Wherever You Will Go
by NinjaFennekin
Summary: Desperate to forget about Ash, Dawn decides to travel to an entirely new region; Unova, taking an unexpected friend with her. She tells herself to enjoy her new journey, and forget completely about the pain of losing Ash. The only problem is; He's in Unova too! Follow Ash and Dawn's adventures in Unova, and other places... Pearlshipping, AshxDawn, SatoHika.
1. Glassy eyes

**Before I start**:

**This story won't be that long. Maybe 9 or 10 chapters, depending on how I feel. Main ships are; Pearlshipping/Comashipping. Minor ships are; Ikarishipping/Advanceshipping**

**Ages;**

**Ash - 16**

**Dawn - 16**

**Paul - 16**

**Cilan - 19**

**Iris - 15**

**May (minor) - 16**

* * *

Night fell upon Sinnoh, covering the trees and fields with darkness and a sense of wariness. The only light came from the glowing moon and hundreds of stars- too many to count. Everything that has been bustling fell quiet and still, leaving the night silent. The nocturnal pokemon crawled from their nests and began looking around for food and stretching themselves; overall it was a beautiful sight.

This was why Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town sat, holding her sleeping partner, and watched the sun go down. She held Piplup tightly as she tried to count the stars in the sky, but getting sick eventually. Her mind had been clouded over for quite a few weeks, and she didn't know why. It had all started when she had said goodbye to Ash and Brock. She started to feel longing and sadness.

_You need to choose where to go next, Dawn, _She told herself. She often felt her heart drop to her stomach thinking of how she could of asked Ash where he was going to, so she could go after him. She hadn't bothered. Why didn't she?

_You need to go somewhere new and exciting, to take your mind of Ash_, but she wasn't thinking about where to go next, really. She was wondering still why Ash was always on her mind.

She shuffled back, careful not to wake Piplup, and rested against a nearby tree. She would have to be home soon, or her mother would worry, but she told herself to enjoy the last moments of the Sinnoh sun. Tomorrow, she would decide where to go and leave.

"Piplup?" Dawn looked down, to see her partner had woke and was shooting her a puzzled look.

"Oh, sorry if I woke you Piplup, I was just trying to get comfortable." She apologized and smiled weakly at her closest friend. Piplup looked unconvinced.

"Pip, pip Piplup?" (Dawn, are you okay?) He asked her, wrapping his small arms around her waist a little, showing her that he was still there for her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. No need to worry. I was just trying to decide where to go next. There are so many places, I'm not sure which one I want to visit first!" She said, suddenly excited. "But for now you should go back to sleep."

Piplup nodded appreciatively and curled back up in her lap to sleep once more. Dawn looked back up at the sky, and was disappointed to see that the sun had completely vanished whilst she was talking to Piplup.

She sighed and slowly picked up Piplup to carry him to their house not far away.

.

"Good morning, Dawn." Her mother greeted as she stepped lazily into the kitchen. She sat herself down on a chair and waited patiently for her breakfast. Even though she was sixteen, she still let her mother make breakfast for her.

"Good morning, mom." She answered eventually, yawning and rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Have you decided where you want to go yet? You're supposed to be leaving today!" Johanna said, still smiling cheerfully. She slid a plate of toast across the bench to Dawn, who took it gratefully.

"Actually, I have." She answered with a mouthful of toast. "A totally new area that I've heard almost nothing about."

"And where might that be?" Her mother glanced at her warily, worrying about her daughters decision.

"I'm going to Unova." Dawn said proudly. She would go there and try not to think too much about Ash and Brock. She would meet new friends or maybe even travel alone. She would win the grand festival there.

"Unova? That's so far away though, Dawn." Her mom raised an eyebrow and took Dawn's already empty plate away from her. "Are you sure?"

"Mom, I'm sixteen. And it's not that far away." She said persuasively. "Also, it looks so interesting there. I can't wait to see all those new pokemon." Her eyes grew as she thought of all the new pokemon she would be able to catch there, and all the new places she would see. It made her eager to leave.

"You've got that look again." Her mom chuckled. "Your bag is packed. You need to head to Canalave City if you want to catch a ferry to Unova."

"Right." Dawn jumped up and ran to where her bag lay waiting. She checked once more if she'd packed everything. She was going to take all of her pokemon with her to the new region. They all wanted to see it, and it would be unfair to leave them behind.

"Good luck in Unova, Dawn. Don't forget to call me." Johanna mumbled, clearly upset that her daughter was leaving her again. Dawn just smiled up at her and pulled her in for a hug.

"Thanks mom, I will. See ya!" She burst out of the door into the warm summer air. The sun beat down on her, but the light breeze blew her hair and made it bearable. She grabbed the bicycle she'd bought the week before and hopped up onto the sight. She felt comfortable on it, and riding it felt smooth.

She waved back at her mom once more before lifting her feet and pedalling down towards Sandgem Town with great speed. She would reach it easily, since it was so close. It wouldn't even take her two hours.

.

Paul sat alone by the fire. The flames burned dangerously close to his knees which he'd brought up to his chest, but he didn't care; it was a cold night. Even Torterra, a grass pokemon, lay as close to the fire as he dared.

Paul's mind was full of thoughts and questions- so many that he almost screamed in annoyance. He wouldn't have been so bothered, if the thoughts had been sane.

Instead, he was thinking about Ash.

As much as he hated to admit it, he missed Ash. He hated knowing that Ash was miles away and they would probably never see each other again. It crushed him to think how he wouldn't see his face again, because he'd been too proud to ask him where he was going next. Of course Paul hadn't hated Ash as much as he'd pretended to. He just found it easier to make fun of him than to deny it.

Paul rocked back and forward and pulled at his hair, telling himself to stop thinking about it. He needed sleep before he caught the ferry the next day. It would only take him a few hours to reach the port, then he could catch the ferry which he would be on for almost a day.

There was one thing Paul had heard just before they'd parted for the last time. He had heard Ash say something about going to Kanto. However he knew it would be a wild goose chase just following him there. Ash would probably think he was a stalker too.

The last time they'd met, at the Sinnoh League, they'd become friends in a way. They'd said they would battle again though Paul knew that would never happen. And Paul had smiled in a friendly way for the first time in a while, hinting to Ash that he had secretly liked him. Of course Ash didn't pick up on that, because he was so dense- even at sixteen years old.

Paul shook all the thoughts from his mind and lay down to sleep. He needed all the rest he could get for tomorrow.

.

_You're going to Unova! _Dawn repeated in her head, trying to get herself excited about it. She was slightly excited, but not as much as she could have been.

She pedalled slightly faster, pressing onwards. She had long since passed Sandgem Town; not even stopping to say hello to professor Rowan. She had zoomed down Route 202 to Jubilife City, and had only just finished passing through.

It was getting dark again, and Dawn knew she'd soon have to settle down for the night. She could make it to Canalave City in a couple of hours but riding in the dark was too dangerous. She only had a few minutes until the darkness completely took over.

"Okay, Piplup." She brought her bike to a stop in the middle of the dirt path and stepped gracefully from the seat. Piplup hopped out of his own little personal basket at the front of her bike and managed to land in Dawn's arms. Dawn smiled down at Piplup once before setting him down on the ground so she could push her bike to where they would stay.

She found the perfect spot by the trees and a small lake that would provide water for her pokemon. One by one, she called them all out.

"Togekiss, Mamoswine, Pachirisu, Quilava, Buneary!" She called, throwing the five pokeballs into the air. The pokemon exploded into her view, all greeting her with grins. They all loved sleeping outside rather than in their pokballs.

She managed to build a small fire in the grass, not too far from the lake. She kept throwing sticks onto it until it was pretty high. Tonight, she would sleep outside rather than in her tent. She wanted to be able to look at the stars and think.

"Piplup." Her partner greeted her again as it jumped into her lap. Dawn pulled a jacket that she'd just bought from her bag and wrapped it around her shoulders, to stop herself from shivering so much.

It didn't take her pokemon long to fall asleep. Mamoswine lay by the trees, while Quilava stayed just centimetres from the fire, enjoying its warmth. Pachirisu was curled up next to Buneary a few feet from the fire, while Togekiss perched herself on a branch that stuck out more than any of the others.

.

"Try to keep up with me." Paul muttered to Froslass, who had begged to stay outside her pokeball for the rest of the journey. Paul eventually gave in, since he was in a pretty good mood. He was going to a completely different region. Though it would have been better if Ash was there too...

He hated himself for thinking that.

"Get over it." He told himself aloud, confusing Froslass. She looked over at him, asking him what he meant with her eyes.

"It doesn't matter." He mumbled, keeping his head low. He was slightly embarrassed about liking Ash. The real question was; How much did he like Ash?

"Froslass!" His pokemon cried happily, flying around Paul in circles. He was about to ask her why she was being so ridiculous when he spotted Canalave city just down below him, not even a mile away. It lifted his spirits to see the bustling city, where he could leave the Sinnoh region.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and smiled down at the floor before starting towards the city, ready to leave.

His feet lead him to the entrance of the city, and he walked in slowly. He still allowed Froslass to float by his side. People stared at her in awe and young children tried to reach for her. She just smiled and chirped at them all. That was the kind of pokemon she was.

"What do you say, Froslass," Paul started as they neared the ports, "Want to stop at the pokemon centre for a while or not? Or we could go looking around the city? The ferry doesn't leave for another two hours."

Froslass was startled by Paul's sudden kindness, but shook her head at the pokemon centre. She didn't feel a need to go there right now, and she really wanted to see some more of the city or battle some strong trainers.

"Okay then, let's look around." He looked at her, and she thought for a moment that he was going to smile. That was too good to be true, and he just looked at the ground again and continued walking.

"I think we'll go check out that nearby lake."

.

Dawn had woken late that morning, feeling groggy. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and forced herself up. She looked around at her pokemon, that were all awake and playing.

"Time to go back." She said politely and returned them one by one. Except Piplup, of course.

Dawn looked at the lake for a moment, and then around at the thick surrounding forest. She wondered if anyone else came out here at all. She'd seen no-one on the road, and no-one had bothered her by the lake yet. It was so tempting and warm outside, that she let herself give in.

She slipped out of her black dress and untied her scarf carefully. She didn't care about Piplup seeing any more, and Piplup was too busy swimming around to care anyway.

She slowly stepped into the cold lake. It was refreshing to be able to swim by yourself like that, and she could even wash her hair. After a while, she stopped worrying about people coming along and just waded around in the cool waters.

Except someone was coming, and they were very close to the edge of the forest.

"Froslass, return." Paul called back Froslass, wanting to get through the forest quietly so he didn't wake any forest pokemon.

The forest wasn't very large, and it only took him five minutes to walk from one side of it to the other.

As Paul reached the end of a forest, he noticed a small fire between the trees, just at the edge. He peered at it for a moment and realized it was recent, which meant someone was nearby. He decided to ignore it, since he probably wouldn't see them.

So he stepped out onto the banks of the lake, and looked around, until his eyes landed on something blue floating on the lake nearby. He narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't make out what it was...

Suddenly, it burst out of the water upwards, and the hair flung back, sending water flying right his way. Paul froze when he realized what it was- a girl. He should of walked away, but like most teenage boys would, he stood and watched instead.

She swum around a little bit, but never looked back at him, so he couldn't see her face. Then she decided she'd had enough of swimming, and turned suddenly, catching Paul off guard.

His face twisted and he jumped back a little, expecting her to scream. Instead he heard nothing, and opened his eyes to look.

Now he didn't just see any random girl. He saw Dawn. She looked just as shocked as him, staring at him with huge, glassy eyes.

Then she did start to scream. The sound was so high pitched, Paul had to cover his ears. He turned away and covered his eyes, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment. He heard her scurry out of the water and grab her dress. She pulled it on quickly, fumbling for her bag.

When Paul finally dared to look back around, she was fully dressed. Her hair was already drying, and she had called her Quilava out to help it. She still looked as shocked as she did when she discovered him there.

"How long did you watch me for?" She asked him without turning to face him. She didn't sound particularly angry or upset, just shocked.

"A few minutes." Paul admitted quietly, expecting her to shout at him, instead she stayed sitting there, letting Quilava dry her hair and tying her scarf around her neck.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him another question. This time, however, she asked him as she pulled her beanie hat over her head and turned to face him, looking calmer.

"Uh..." He stared for a moment, before pulling himself together. "I'm catching a ferry at Canalave City. Sorry for, um-"

"It's okay. I'm catching a ferry too. Where are you going to?" She straightened her hair up and looked as if nothing had happened.

"Unova, what about you?" He found himself being quite polite to her. Maybe it was because he still felt bad about watching her.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, and she was suddenly smiling. "Me too! Want to come with me?" She asked straightforwardly, startling him.

"You mean, travel with you?" He asked to make sure he had the right idea. He had no idea what he would say if she confirmed it. He wanted company, and maybe she would help him forget about Ash. She was very pretty...

"Yeah, why not? I was kind of worried about being lonely or lost. What do you say?" She asked giving him the most innocent smiled, trying to persuade him.

"Well, er, I suppose we could." He answered without thinking. He couldn't believe it. How the hell did he end up travelling with Dawn Berlitz? He didn't even like her!

"Wow! Okay, well we better catch that ferry then!" Dawn said, walking up to his side and falling into step beside him. "This might actually be fun."

_Yeah, I suppose it might be._

_._

They didn't talk much on the way back to the city- just walked side by side towards the port. Eventually they reached the giant port, and had to ask a local which ferry they were supposed to catch. Before either of them knew it, they were looking over the railings of their ferry at the disappearing shore of Sinnoh.

"So, why did you choose Unova?" Paul asked her, not really sounding interested. He just didn't want her to feel awkward.

"Can I be completely honest with you now, Paul?" She turned to ask him. She looked completely serious; it was almost scary.

"Sure."

"Well," She started, turning to look back at Sinnoh. "I want to go somewhere completely new and far away to help me forget about Ash."

Paul's heart stopped for a moment, and he turned to her surprisingly quickly. "Why? Did you fall out with him?"

"No, no. Of course not. I just miss him a lot. For some reason I can't stop thinking about him."

_Oh, great. She probably loves him and she doesn't realize it._

"So, um, do you know where he went?" Paul asked, sounding a little demanding. He wanted desperately to know where Ash was, even if he couldn't go there himself.

"No. I forgot to ask him, or I'd be with him now." She said sadly, still gazing out at sea, even though Sinnoh was just about gone. "But I'm going to forget about it anyway. C'mon, let's go find our room."

She dragged Paul by the arm down countless corridors towards their cabin. The ferry would take all night to get to Unova, so they would have to sleep there. Paul and Dawn would share a room for the first time ever.

She pushed open the door, revealing their rather small but cosy cabin. At the far end, sat a bunk bed. Dawn quickly ran over and threw her bag onto the top, making sure she got it. She was sixteen, but she still would have fought over the top bunk.

"Why don't you just call him, Dawn?" Paul asked randomly as she started to climb the ladders. She stopped halfway up and turned to face him.

"I don't know," She answered quietly, "Do you think I should?"

"Why not?" Paul shrugged, acting as if he didn't care. Really, he wanted her to call him so he could listen to them and find out where Ash was. This made him feel a little stalker like, but he ignored that. He missed Ash too much.

"I suppose I could. I forgot about calling him completely..." She said, climbing back down the ladders. "I'll use the phone here in the room. Do you mind leaving?" She asked politely. Paul shook his head and left the room silently. He went to close the door but left it slightly open; just enough so he could hear them.

Dawn seemed to hesitate before pressing the last number, like she was having second thoughts.

"Hello?" He heard quietly after a while, and quickly recognized the voice. Ash had answered pretty quickly.

"Hey, Ash." Dawn said, sounding nervous. Why was she nervous?

"Dawn?" Ash asked, and Paul could hear the excitement in his voice.

Dawn suddenly perked up, and looked ready to have a conversation, when suddenly she stopped. In the background, you could faintly hear a girl speaking.

"Dawn, are you there?"

Dawn slowly put the phone back down, ignoring Ash.

_What is she doing?_

She sat in the corner of the room and brought her knees to her chest. She looked as if she would cry, but instead she just sat there, staring at the floor. It killed Paul to watch her to, so he just walked back in without warning.

"What's the matter, Dawn?" He asked, not too nicely, to maintain his arrogant attitude.

"I don't know, that's the problem!" She snapped at him. "Every time I've tried to call him that happens! I get these weird feelings, and I hear that girl talking..."

"You think he's replaced you?" Paul guessed, allowing himself to stand over her. "Ash is dense, he won't fall in love with her."

"Fall in love with her? Why would I even... I never think about love, why would I care?"

Paul scoffed and lay back on his bed, turning away from her.

"Paul? Hey!" She hit him lightly on the arm, but he ignored her. Eventually she gave up and climbed up onto her own bed. He heard her sniff a little, but knew she wasn't still crying. She was pretty tough. It wouldn't upset her for long, though it would come back if she kept thinking about it.

In the top bunk, Dawn turned over for the hundredth time. She was thinking of what Paul had said about Ash falling in love with that new girl. Dawn could never imagine Ash falling in love with anyone at all, because he was so dense. But even if he did fall for her, would she care? Why did she feel like she would?

In the bottom bunk, Paul was trying to block out the creaking caused by Dawn turning over again. He was trying to accept the fact that he was travelling with someone he had hated so bad just a year ago. For some reason now, he didn't mind her. Maybe it was because he didn't have to act tough for Ash.

Slowly sleep crept up on both of them, and neither could stop it. Just an hour later they were both dreaming of the same thing. The thing that they both wanted, but didn't quite realize yet.

* * *

**Of course I won't have anybody meeting up for another few chapters. **

**I will open a poll on my page, vote whether you want PEARL or COMA or maybe even IKARI.**

**Vote now! :D**


	2. Determination

**Hello again, **

**The poll on my profile is now over, and the winner is;...**

**Pearlshipping!**

**Yeah, so I kinda knew it would win. I personally love Pearlshipping so I'm really pleased hardly anyone voted for Ikarishipping, hehe.**

**Anyway, please review if you like the chapter! Even flames really help!**

* * *

Dawn and Paul woke to the sound of the captain speaking through speakers in everybody's room. It took Dawn a few minutes to tune in and be able to hear him properly. She hadn't slept well at all again, so she was in a pretty bad mood.

Paul, however, had slept quite well, and was already ready. He sat listening to the man speaking, nodding to himself every now and then.

"We'll be there in an hour and a half, Dawn. You better get ready so we can go down to the cafeteria." He said dully and left to giver her time to get ready. He thought it would take her a while, but she appeared by the door five minutes later.

"Let's go get breakfast then." She said and smiled sweetly up at Paul, who cringed. He hated people smiling at him like that, because it showed they liked him. That meant he had to like them back. Though he didn't really mind Dawn that much.

They walked side by side down the the café, where they chose the closest table to the door to sit at.

Once they'd settled into their seats, Dawn cleared her throat, showing she was going to try and talk to him.

"I want to know more about you, Paul."

Paul raised an eyebrow at her. She really wanted to talk about interests?

"Why were you so nasty to Ash?" She asked him, looking down at her food. Paul almost choked on his. He tried to think of how to answer.

"I... I don't know." He said quietly. Now it was Dawn's turn to look shocked.

"I knew you weren't so bad, Paul. You just wanted to look tough, right? Well you don't have to worry about that with me."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just sat and poked at his food. The silence was more awkward than peaceful.

"So, do you love Kenny?" Paul asked her, knowing she would react instantly; and she did. She lurched forward in her seat slightly and choked a little.

"K-Kenny? No! Why would you think that?"

"Because I heard him when he was talking to Barry on the phone, saying he loved you. Just wondered what was going on there."

"Nothing." Dawn answered quickly, wiping that idea from Paul's mind. "There's nothing going on. He told me he liked me but I don't like him so I sent him away. That was that."

"What about Barry?"

She scoffed. "No way."

"Ash?"

She took a few seconds to answer. "What? N-no. He's just my friend."

"If you say so." Paul smirked. He knew Dawn liked Ash but didn't realize it. It was a classic situation. Except hers might be a lot harder to solve, because she was so far away from Ash and didn't have the guts to call him.

"I'm not going to call Ash any more." Dawn said ironically. "He wouldn't want me bothering him while he tries to collect his gym badges.

Paul wanted to tell Dawn she was being stupid, but he didn't want to get involved. It was her decision, after all.

"We will be arriving in Unova is approximately ten minutes!" Someone called enthusiastically. Dawn quickly shovelled down the rest of her breakfast before running off to their room without saying another word. She stuffed all her belongings into her bag quickly, not caring if they were neat or not. She really wanted to be outside when they arrived, so she could get a good look at the Unova region.

She leaned over the railings and clutched her beanie as she tried to get a better look at it. She could see a port, and a large sign that read 'Castelia City'.

"Castelia City, huh? I guess that's our first stop." Paul appeared next to her, trying to hide that tiny bit of excitement he was feeling. "To be honest, I'm looking forward to the gym battles."

"I'm looking forward to the contests too. You will come and watch me, won't you? I mean, we are going to be travelling with each other..."

"I suppose I could watch your contests. I've never seen a full contest battle before."

"Really? They're awesome! You get to show off your pokemon's strength and beauty..."

Paul stopped listening to her rambling and directed his attention to the city, which they were just minutes from. He gripped the railing harder as he thought of travelling with Dawn. Would it get awkward a lot? Would she annoy him too much, or would he actually start to like her? He wanted to know the answers to the questions before he even set off with her, but he knew he was just going to have to try with her.

"Paul? Paul, we're here." Dawn pulled at his sleeve, until he finally paid her attention and followed her down to where they could step off the ferry into the Unova region.

Dawn was buzzing with excitement. She could hardly keep herself still as they looked around the massive city and tried to decide where to go first.

"The pokemon centre. We need to register." Dawn decided, and grabbed Paul's arm. She dragged him down the pier and onto the pavement. As they weaved among the many tourists and locals, Paul realized that it would be a lot easier to get along with Dawn that he thought it would be.

Dawn spotted the pokemon centre easily. She pulled Paul through the double doors to reveal a large building- much larger than any other pokemon centre she'd been to. Also, stood behind the desk, was a Nurse Joy that looked different than Sinnoh's.

"Hey, look, there are different Nurse Joy's here."

"Well, yeah, they did only start communicating with the rest of us a little while ago. Everything here will be different than Sinnoh." Paul informed her. Not many people were at the centre. There were only two people in the main room, standing looking distressed in the corner.

.

"You're the captain of this ship I presume?" The strange man allowed himself to board and set his briefcase down on the wooden deck. "We need to talk."

"Yes, I am. What can I do for you?" He asked politely, trying to remain calm. It was quite apparent, that he was nervous, however, since he was so tense.

"Where did you just arrive from?" The man asked, paying no attention to the captains nervousness. He couldn't care less.

"We set off from Sinnoh yesterday. Why do you ask?"

"Sinnoh, that could be a problem. How many of the passengers live in Sinnoh?" He asked, pulling out a notepad and pen.

"Only two, I think. We didn't have many passengers, and almost everybody was returning to Unova after visiting Sinnoh. How could that be a problem?"

"Two people from Sinnoh? How old? What did they look like?" The man demanded. The conversation was starting to get weird.

"Uh, I don't know. They were teenagers, maybe 16 or 17 years old. Blue haired female and purple haired male. The girl she was uh, wearing a weird beanie hat. What is going on here!?"

"I'm going to have to go get them back. They can't stay here. There's been a major problem, which is why most people are returning to Unova. I'm surprised you haven't heard. It's all over the news. Even I'm scared."

"I don't turn on the news much. What's wrong?" The captain demanded again. This time the man began to explain. The whole time the captain just stood, listening carefully. His jaw dropped and he couldn't find words. If it happened, it would be the worst disaster in years.

.

"So you want to register for contests, am I right?" Nurse Jot asked cheerfully as Dawn approached the desk.

"How did you know I was a coordinator?" Dawn asked her, but Paul didn't seem all that surprised. It was quite obvious.

"I saw you on the television when you won the Wallace Cup. Here, I'll register you. Make sure you go and get 5 ribbons and win the Grand Festival, okay?" She winked as she handed Dawn a small card that said she was registered.

Paul registered for his gym battles, only nodding at Nurse Joy's compliments on his Sinnoh League battles.

"Well good luck to both of you!" Nurse Joy called as Dawn waved back. Paul was eager to leave.

"Wow, Burgh. You really are something, beating five trainers in a row."

Paul stopped and turned to see who this great trainer. A man stood in the centre of the room, trying to get out of the crowd that had suddenly formed around him.

"Nothing special. He was beaten by a Tepig in his last battle, I was watching!"

"Paul, what're you looking at?" Dawn asked him and tugged at his arm a little again.

"That trainer over there. Do you think that's the gym leader?" He asked nobody in particular. He just kept staring at the strange man, until he eventually made his way out of the crowd and headed for the door.

"I dunno. Let's follow him, maybe he'll lead us to the gym."

"Hm, maybe." Dawn shrugged. Paul was already following Burgh while trying to keep it from being completely obvious. Burgh didn't seem to care as he strolled down the main street of Castelia. Once he reached the end, he turned right onto another large path, where Paul could see the gym.

"Oh, he is the gym leader!" Dawn exclaimed as Burgh let himself into the gym and started speaking to the man that greeted challengers. "Let's listen to what they're saying."

She crept up to the side of the door and started to listen to what the two were talking about.

"Why?" Paul whispered.

"Why not? We can't go in while they're talking, that would be rude."

"Isn't listening in ru-"

"Shh! I can't hear what they're saying!" She hushed him. He rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall as she entertained herself by listening in to other peoples conversations.

"Yeah, I know. Stop talking about it will you? Why do you want to know?" Dawn could only catch what Burgh was saying, and he was boring anyway. She was about to step away to converse with Paul instead, when he said something that froze her.

"Dawn? What're you doing?" Paul asked her quietly. Her jaw was dropped and she was as still as a statue. "Dawn?"

Then she heard it again. She was sure of it this time, and she couldn't control herself. She burst through the semi-open door and looked Burgh right in the eye. She was shaking.

"Um, can I help you?" Burgh asked her, raising an eyebrow. Paul appeared at the door and took her arm.

"Come on, Dawn, what are you doing?" He asked her, softly rather than harshly.

"What was his name?" She asked. When Burgh just wore a confused look, she asked again, this time more demanding. "What was the name of the boy that battled you earlier and lost to?"

"I don't remember the first name, but his last name was Ketchum, why?"

Dawn seemed to just stand there for a minute, but after Paul watched her for a second, he noticed she was shaking like a leaf.

She turned to him, looking as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Ketchum, Paul." She said, suddenly grinning. She felt overjoyed, hearing his name, though she had told herself to stop thinking about him.

"Dawn, it could be any Ketchum. Don't get your hopes up." He said, but even he was starting to smile a little. "I want to battle the gym leader first."

"Are you kidding, Paul? It's him, and I'm not letting him get away." She said in a demanding tone. Paul raised his eyebrows at her, while Burgh just stood and watched with no interest.

"It's probably not him, Dawn!" Paul retaliated, clenching one fist and keeping eye contact.

"Burgh," Dawn turned to the gym leader, who was starting to daydream, "Did the boy perhaps have a Pikachu with him?"

Burgh sighed to himself and settled in a chair by the window.

"He did have a Pikachu. He also had a hat, and black hair I believe. If you know the boy, I suggest you go after him now. He will be halfway down to Nimbasa City by now. Watch out though, the route's pretty dangerous for kids like you."

"That's him, Paul."

"Wow, so he came to Unova, and now we're here too. I'm guessing you want to catch up with him, right?"

A loud rumble sounded outside, almost shaking the floors of the gym. Burgh rose from his char and padded over to his window, where he peered out.

"No, you don't want to catch up. Not in that weather."

Dawn rushed over and pressed her face against the glass. Outside, it was bucketing down, and lightning was striking the tops of nearby buildings. The glass was quickly covered in raindrops, so she could barely see outside any more.

"That weather?" Dawn said to nobody in particular. When she's seen the thunder and rain, her heart had sank in her chest. She really needed to see Ash, so she could understand what was going on in her head. She would finally be able to sleep, to think, to battle properly.

"That weather is nothing." She gritted her teeth with sudden determination. Paul shifted beside her.

"What? Are you crazy? You'll freeze to death out there in _that _dress."

"How do you know? I'm not letting Ash get any further ahead, or I might never catch up with him."

Dawn opened the door, and was greeted by a gust of freezing wind. It hit her arms first, and sent goosebumps down them. She tried to ignore it, and stepped out into the rain. Instantly, she was drenched, and her dress clung to her limbs. Her hair fell around her face and stuck to her forehead until she reached out to brush it away.

"Dawn!" Paul called from the gym. "Get back inside here! Nobody else is out, you see!? Nobody else is stupid enough to go out in that weather."

_Whatever, _Dawn thought to herself. Before she got any more soaked, she started sprinting down the main road. Paul was right about there being nobody else out. The streets were deserted. It was only her rushing down the street. The only sound she could hear was her own footsteps splashing in the puddles. It echoed in her ears as she tried to block everything else out. It stopped her from feeling so cold or wet.

She didn't think about how she had never been to Unova before, and had no idea where to go. She just get sprinting, until she came to a tunnel that lead out of the City, and onto the next route. She didn't stop for a break there, either. Ash would be at the next town, supposedly Nimbasa City, by now. If he left tomorrow, she'd be even more behind. Also, she really just longed to see him.

The tunnel was warm for a few seconds, but no one stood behind the desk. She had no reason to stay, since the notice board was displaying news about places she'd never heard of.

So as she left the tunnel, she noticed the next route was a desert. Sand stretched across the horizon, and a single sandy path lead down the middle. Yet again, everyone had left to get inside, so it was completely silent and still.

"I'm coming, Ash." She whispered to herself, then wondered why she had said that. The rain was still coming down, and the thunder still rumbled. She wasn't really feeling the cold any more, and it was clear she was going to get ill if she didn't get out of the rain and cold soon.

She figured the route wasn't actually that long, since she could see a Ferris Wheel and parts of an amusement parks just over the sand hills.

She braced herself a little. She had given herself time to catch her breath, so she was able to run again; but her wet clothes were weighing her down. Her beanie felt like a boulder on her head, and soon her neck started to hurt. The dress was starting to annoy her, and her boots were filled with water. For a moment, she wondered if she was overreacting to the news of Ash being in Unova.

_No, you're not._ She reminded herself as she panted. _He's just your best friend. _

Saying that to herself felt wrong for some reason, but she completely ignored it.

She looked back for a moment, checking how far she'd come. She couldn't see the tunnel any more; that was a good sign- but her chest was starting to hurt.

It was right about then, that she tripped in the watery sand.

She put her hand out to give herself a softer landing, but her leg twisted to the side, spraining her muscle. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from crying out, even though there was no one else to hear.

_You can walk, stand up._

Only thinking about getting to the next city, she listened to herself and stood. A wave of pain ran up her leg, paralysing her for a moment, then sending her back down to the ground.

She instantly started panicking. What could she do now? How would she get there? What would happen if she just sat in this rain?

"Need help?" Someone asked behind her- a voice she instantly recognised. She whipped her head around to make sure she wasn't just hearing it.

"You were stupid for coming out here, but I get it." Paul muttered. He too was drenched, but didn't seem bothered at all. "Don't be freaked out by this."

He placed one hand on her back, and the other under her knee, and slowly lifted her from the ground. She was surprised at his sudden movements, but didn't object or say anything. She looked up at his face and saw that he was blushing slightly. However she thought nothing of it, since most boys would get nervous carrying a girl they hardly knew like that.

He started to carry her down the road. At first, Dawn thought he was going to take her back to Castelia city, but instead he turned to take her to Nimbasa. She realized he was missing a gym out for her, and she mentally thanked him for that. He was a lot nicer than she thought...

It took them a little longer to get to Nimbasa, since Paul couldn't run with Dawn in his arms. Luckily the rain stopped almost right after he found her, and it began to warm up as the storm passed away.

Dawn learned to control her excitement and became more patient. She didn't want to have to wait to get to Ash, but she had to. And when they did reach the gates of Nimbasa city, Paul stopped.

"Can you walk yet?" He looked down and asked her.

"Put me down and we'll see." Dawn braced herself as he put her on the ground. It hit her again, the wave of pain, and she did cry out.

"That's a no, then." Paul sighed and quickly swept her back up again, startling her. "Don't worry about it, I'll get us a room at the pokemon centre."

"But-"

"I know you want to find him. He's probably at the pokemon centre right now."

Hearing him say that made her heart beat faster, and a smile spread from one ear to her other.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

The pokemon centre was actually just down the road, much to Dawn's excitement. Paul took a little longer than she wanted to get there, but soon enough they were standing right outside the double doors of the large, orange-roofed building.

"You're getting funny looks." Dawn giggled, as the doors slid open. "I think you shoul-"

Dawn stopped mid-sentence when she spotted them; A tall man with strange light green hair in a suit, a girl with very bushy dark hair with a pokemon hiding in it, and the boy with the raven black hair.

Before she could say anything, or get Paul to put her down, he turned to her, looking ecstatic. Then, he noticed her, and his eyes widened, and his smile dropped.

_Oh please, don't get the wrong idea..._

* * *

**__So Ash has turned to see Paul carrying Dawn bridal style!? Whoops.**

**Don't forget to review if you liked the chapter, free cyber hugs for all! :D**


	3. Together again

**Welcome to another chapter, hehe.**

**In reply to a certain review; Nope, I do not think Ash is gay. Just because I hinted that Paul may have been gay in the first chapter, that doesn't mean that I thought of Ash as gay too. Anyway, Paul might not be gay...**

**Anyway, onto the chapter!**

**Shippings in this chapter: Pearlshipping, Wishfulshipping, Advanceshipping (slight)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Something is bothering Ash," Iris started as she and Cilan walked behind him, "I want to know what it is, but I'm scared I'll upset him."

"I know what you mean. Maybe he's missing someone important like his mom." Cilan suggested and shrugged. Neither of them had a clue what had been making Ash so down for the past few days. They could guess all they wanted, but they'd never get it. He always acted so dense when it came to girls, and he pretty much was, but the reason he was so upset was a certain bluenette coordinator. Of course he didn't realize what all the upset and pain meant, but he still knew one thing; He missed her a lot.

"Yeah, maybe, but why would he just start missing his mom now? He's been with us for weeks." Iris said, mostly to herself, before speeding up and falling into step beside Ash.

"Hey Ash, what's bothering you?" She asked him, before she could tell herself not to. "You're not as excited as you usually are for a gym."

"Eh, it's nothing, I'm just tired." He lied unconvincingly and smiled at her.

"You're not fooling me with that. What's really bothering you?" She insisted, narrowing her eyes as if to intimidate him. "You can tell me, Ash."

"Okay," He sighed, "I really miss someone but I don't know why."

_Oh, perhaps Cilan was right._

"Is it your mom?"

Ash chuckled a little. "Nope, I miss her all the time, but not as much as this."

"Is it..." Iris thought for a second, then it came to her. But no, Ash was too dense to be in love with a girl, wasn't he? Or maybe he just didn't know it... "Is it a girl?"

"Yeah." He answered simply, and watched Iris grin up at him. "What's so funny?"

"How much do you miss this girl?" Iris asked him, ignoring his previous question altogether.

"Uh, well, a lot. I think about her all the time, and when I go I feel funny." His face twisted. "But sometimes it kinda feels nice, y'know?"

"Oh, Ash." She shook her head slowly. "You really are dense, aren't you? Do you not know what they call the thing you feel for her?"

Ash seemed to think hard about it for a moment. Iris hoped he would figure it out, and thought he would since she'd hinted at it.

"Nope, what is it?"

Iris groaned loudly as they reached the pokemon centre. Ash had decided that he wanted to stop there, now that they could leave their hiding spot in the trees. They'd needed to find shelter after the terrible storm had hit, and dry forest seemed to be the only option at the time. It was too late in the day to request a gym battle, so he'd have to wait until tomorrow.

"Well, are you going to tell me what it is?"

"Tell you what what is?" Cilan asked.

"Ash is upset because he is missing a certain girl a lot."

"Oh? Well just to make you feel better, I'll make you all your favourite foods!" Cilan wasn't as good a cook as Brock had been, but he sure could cook. He knew all of Ash's favourite meals already, since they'd been requested quite a few times.

Nurse Joy took Ash's pokemon from him, and nodded at each of them cheerfully.

"Aw, thanks. You're the best, Cilan." Ash grinned as he turned to leave the centre.

But then he didn't get to leave the centre, because two people were standing at the entrance. He didn't look at them to realize for a second or two. Then his eyes met hers, and he stopped breathing for a moment.

It was her, looking across at him, in Paul's arms. It was like a scene from a nightmare, his best friend- whom he trusted and missed, in the arms of his worst rival, that he only ever wanted to beat in battle. He refused to take in the image of them together, and clenched his fists.

"Ash, are you okay?" Iris asked, but he didn't even hear her.

He watched as Paul set her down on the floor, and she gazed at him. He glared back, and slowly began to notice that she was soaking wet, slightly injured, and crying.

"Ash." She muttered, only just loud enough for him to hear.

Ash figured out pretty quickly that Paul had been carrying her like that because she had been injured, and his gaze softened. Beside him, Iris and Cilan stood bewildered, wondering who the two Ash was staring at were.

Ash started to make his way towards Dawn slowly, too slow for her taste. She tried to stumble across the floor to him. Her leg gave away at the last second, and she fell into his arms, happily embracing him without saying a word. She felt the heat from his body, and it warmed her, making her cuddle closer, and making Ash blush a little.

Finally Ash pulled away, letting Dawn use him as a support. They just stared at each other for a moment, before Ash couldn't help but ask;

"What are you doing here, Dawn?" He asked her softly, putting his arm around her shoulder. She blushed bright red as Cilan and Iris raised their eyebrows.

"I... I came here for contests. I didn't know you were here." She answered, stuttering a little.

"Iris, Cilan," Ash looked over at his friends from Unova, "I'm going to take Dawn to our room so she can warm up." He looked over at Paul, who didn't look happy nor sad. His expression was blank, his eyes glassy, and he had nothing to say.

* * *

Dawn sat down on the bed, rubbing her hair dry with a towel. Ash had shown her where he was staying, and she'd taken a shower. Now that she'd gotten changed into dry clothes, she felt much better and was happier than before.

Neither Iris or Cilan had bothered coming up. They'd probably be talking to Paul, who wouldn't be overly pleased with the attention. They'd ask him questions about who this blue haired girl was and, of course, Paul would tell them lies.

"Hey Dawn," Ash started, once they were both sitting on the edge of his bunk bed, "Why were you out in the storm anyway?"

Dawn blushed beetroot red and wondered whether to lie or not.

"I was..." _Just tell him the truth, what's wrong with you? _"I heard you were in Unova and I got a little excited..."

To her surprise, Ash just chuckled a little and pulled her in for another hug. _This is weird, I never thought Ash was the hugging type._

"Hey Ash." Iris appeared at the door, smirking. "You never told me you had a girlfriend!"

"Girlfriend?" Ash looked lost, just as dense as usual.

Dawn glared up at the girl she hadn't even spoken to before, and somehow Iris got the message.

"Oh... Never mind!" Iris grinned sheepishly and ran off to the café again.

_Ash's girlfriend, huh? I'll kill that Paul. Would I even want to be Ash's girlfriend?... Maybe..._

Dawn mentally slapped herself awake and shook her head. She didn't know why she was thinking these things. And why, even though she was with Ash now, did she still feel so lost and upset? She had found her best friend, so she couldn't still be missing him. _Turns out it was never that in the first place..._

Too many thoughts at once, Dawn couldn't handle it. She felt it building up, this overwhelming sadness that she couldn't stop. Suddenly, she rose from the bed and shoved her beanie over her head.

"Dawn?"

She turned to face him, tears forming at the corners of her eyes, before turning away again and running from the room to find Paul. He was the only one she felt she could tell, even though he had lied about her. If she told Ash, he might think she was weird. Iris and Cilan... Well, she didn't even know them yet. So Paul was the only option, and that was why she ran into the café and fell into his arms.

Luckily Iris and Cilan had long since gone to the grocery store, so nobody else saw the hug and Dawn crying onto Paul's shirt.

"What's the matter?" Paul asked, sounding as interested as he could manage.

"That's the problem, I don't know." Dawn answered, pulling away. "I'm here, with Ash, but I still feel the same. I thought it was because I was missing him that I was feeling this way but I'm here and nothing has changed!" She started to shout, so people around them stared.

"Look, I booked a room here, we can go there." He said. Her leg still hurt, but she'd managed to completely ignore the pain while running. For now though, Paul put her arm around his shoulder and helped her up the stairs. It was strange, because he actually felt good about being nice to someone for once.

* * *

Once they were up in Paul's room, Dawn was free to shout as much as she wanted. Instead, she just sat and sulked into a pillow.

"Dawn, I think your problem is obvious." Paul said, once he decided she wasn't going to figure it out herself.

"What...?" Dawn looked up, her eyes red and puffy from all the crying. "What do you mean?"

"You're just as dense as him." Paul muttered and rolled his eyes. "Look, what do they call it when someone wants someone else?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Dawn asked, her mood swinging from upset to angry in just seconds.

"Your problems. Do you want me to help or not?" Paul asked, remaining calm despite her outburst. "Because you sure aren't acting like it."

"Yes, I do want you to help. Sorry." She lowered her head.

"Okay, well it looks like I'm going to have to just tell you. God, I hate saying this word."

"What word?"

"Dawn," Paul said, taking a deep breath, "You are, quite obviously, in love with Ash."

Dawn didn't say a word. She just sat and gawked at him, trying to take it in. Was she really... In love with Ash? That would explain how much she missed him, and those secret butterflies she had gotten when he hugged her.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Ash's room, Iris had showed back up. Ash had told her everything about how Dawn had been here, and had ran away crying. The whole time Iris just nodded, like she understood exactly what was going on.

"Oh, Ash." She shook her head once he finished his story. "Do you like Dawn?"

"Of course I like Dawn, she's my friend."

"No, Ash!" Iris face palmed. "I mean do you LIKE like her?"

"...What?"

"For fucks sake Ash, do you love her!?"

Ash just sat there and blinked at her, clearly not understanding.

"Look Ash, I think Dawn may feel you're a special person to her. Even though she might not act like it, these next few days, she will want to be near you. She'll try to convince you that she's just tired, that she's fine, but that won't be the real reason. She's probably going to be scared. Too scared to tell you how she really feels. Secretly she looks up to you. From what I've heard, she thinks of you and kind of like her hero. You help her, no matter what situation she's in. She always looks up to you. Except this time that's not good, because you're part of the problem so she can't turn to you for advice like she normally would. Just try to be nice to her, let her speak to you normally, and please, for her sake, try and figure out how _you _feel too." Iris spoke in a harsh but kind tone. She even surprised herself with the rant. Ash was even more surprised.

"I'm sure I wasn't supposed to understand that, but I'll take your advice and... figure it out." He said and watched her get up and leave the room.

_So should I talk to Dawn now?_

* * *

"Hey Dawn." Ash greeted with a smile as he glided into her room. She was sat on her bed, looking at her Sinnoh ribbon case, her eyes glittering with hints of sadness and great memories.

"Hey, Ash." She replied, sounding a little down. She flicked back a strand of her hair to push it behind her ear and faked a smile back up at him. Now that Paul had told her exactly what was going on, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Are you okay?" He asked, as he wandered over to the opposite bed and sat on its edge. They sat there for a moment, saying nothing, and Ash slowly started to become lost in her eyes. He realized then just how amazing her aqua blue eyes were. Her perfect lips upturned into a sudden smile.

"Yeah, of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" She asked a little too falsely.

She noticed Ash's hazel eyes grow darker as he remembered Iris' words. His eyebrows narrowed and he looked over at the window.

"Because you ran out of my room crying..."

Dawn shuffled uncomfortably on the edge of her bed and blushed. She felt as if she was going to cry again. How could she possibly tell him that she had feelings for him? He still acted like such a kid, he probably wouldn't understand at all.

"I was just tired and confused." Dawn lied, not knowing about the conversation he and Iris had just had. "No need to worry."

Ash's brow furrowed and he frowned over at her. "Okay..." His gaze dropped to the floor and he stood to leave the room, not wanting to see her like that any more.

* * *

The next day, Ash and Dawn completely avoided each other's eyes, as they sat eating breakfast at a café table with Cilan, Iris and Paul. Nobody had said a word, except Cilan who had complimented his breakfast.

Dawn poked at her food with her fork and blinked lazily. Anyone else would think she was just bored, but Paul knew differently. She had not slept the night before. He had heard her get up to go to the balcony late at night. He was going to go out to comfort her, but she really needed to start figuring things out herself.

Paul didn't know, however, that she was not trying to figure out what to do. She could do that easily if she wanted to. What she had been doing, was thinking. She had almost been ready to sleep, when a thought hit her.

_If I love Ash, that means I want to spend the rest of my life with him._

She had, when she had first seen him, thought about how brave he was. He climbed up the giant Team Rocket machine to save Pikachu, and she had for a moment thought he had died. Even though she didn't know him, she was so upset. But Ash was alive, and she had depended on him ever since. Every time something was wrong, she could count on him to make it all better. This time was not the same. The situation was different, and he was part of the problem. Yes, she loved Ash Ketchum, and yes, she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

So why couldn't she show that?

She pushed herself up out of her chair and nodded once to Iris, Cilan and Paul before sighing and dragging her feet away back to her room.

"Dawn, wait!" She looked back to see Ash standing, approaching her. She couldn't take it, she just wanted him to go away. Everything she wanted, he wouldn't be able to give her.

"Keep away from me!" She snapped back at him, with fresh tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She turned and ran from the centre, needing fresh air.

Meanwhile Ash had just frozen on the spot.

"Ash," He was surprised to hear Paul utter his name, "I... Wouldn't worry about it."

Ash turned to face Paul, who seemed a little annoyed at himself for talking to Ash. He indicated to him to sit back down, but Iris rolled her eyes.

"No, go talk to her." She ordered, pointing at the door. "You want her to be happy, right?"

Ash nodded simply and walked to the door, rather than back to his seat.

* * *

Dawn put her hand down on the warm park bench. The sun had been beating down on it all day, which made it a little difficult to sit on.

She pushed her hair behind her ears and took out the yellow clips. She pulled off the annoying beanie and smoothed her hair down.

"You look nice with your hair down." Someone complimented from behind the bench. Dawn expected to see Ash, but instead was greeted with a strangers rather handsome face.

"Oh... Thank you." She blushed and tried to avoid eye contact.

"Something wrong?" The stranger took a seat beside her and smiled at her warmly.

"I just need some time away from someone, that's all." She answered and sighed.

"Want to get some coffee with me?" He asked suddenly. Her head jolted up. He had to be around her age, and he was pretty cute. Going for coffee wouldn't hurt, would it? But then, what if Ash found out?

"I'm sorry, but..." She hated turning people down... She had to come up with a good lie. "I already have a boyfriend."

"Oh, that's fine then." He seemed a little shattered, but smiled for her anyway. "We can go anyway, if you like?"

Dawn opened her mouth to say yes, when she heard him calling her from nearby.

"Dawn!"

The stranger followed her gaze to see the also handsome teen boy standing at the park gates, waiting for her. He looked back at her to see she was smiling a little. Ash made his way over until he was standing before her.

"So that's your boyfriend then?" He winked at her and she stood beside him.

Dawn instantly turned bright red.

"Boyfriend?" Ash turned his head to look at her slowly.

"Um... I'm gonna go." The stranger laughed nervously, and started to walk in the opposite direction.

"Oh, uh, don't worry about that. I told him I had a boyfriend because I didn't want to let him down." She answered truthfully. She had never said Ash was her boyfriend anyway.

"Oh, okay." He muttered.

He suddenly felt Dawn's arms around his torso and her head against his chest.

"Sorry, Ash." She apologized and smiled from ear to ear for the first time since she'd gotten to Nimbasa city.

"It's okay, Dawn." He returned her hug. Without warning, he started to feel butterflies in his stomach and his eyes widened. _Am I ill?_

But if he was ill, why did it feel good too? His stomach felt fluttery, and was he blushing?

Dawn pulled away from him, and he realized that he wanted to hold her for longer. He wanted to keep her in his arms. _Wait, what am I thinking?_

Dawn was just as surprised, when she noticed a hint of red in his cheeks and noticed how his eyes were wandering.

_Is he... blushing?_

"Uh, we should go back now." He grinned sheepishly, and she nodded, still gawking at the fact that Ash had maybe blushed. Or maybe he was just too warm in the weather... _Yeah, that's probably it._

* * *

"What happened?" Iris asked as Dawn walked into her own room.

"How did you get in?" Dawn raised an eyebrow at the girl she didn't know well at all sitting on her bed.

"Paul let me in."

Dawn set down her bag on the table, never taking her eyes off Iris. "You know Ash well right?"

"Kind of." She shrugged. "Why?"

"I..." Dawn had planned on asking her a certain question, but now it sounded stupid to her.

"Yeah, I figured out that you love Ash."

"What? I-I... Is it that obvious?" Dawn lowered her head, sitting on the opposite bed.

"Yes, to me. I know how you feel-"

"You love Ash?" Dawn cut her off defensively.

"No, Cilan." Iris corrected her, blushing. "Anyway, I already kind of helped you with Ash. I gave him a talk for you."

"You told him!?" She asked angrily, standing up to look down at her.

"No, no. I hinted at it, but of course he understood none of it." She shook her head. "Too dense for that."

"That's the problem. He has no idea what any of it means, so he can't possibly love me back." She slumped back down onto the bed and buried her head in her hands.

"I can't help you there." Iris mumbled and shrugged. "But he does know what it means."

"What? How do you know?" Dawn snapped a little. Ash had never been able to understand in Sinnoh. He had always acted so clueless when they'd met two people or pokemon in love. It seems he had even been travelling with someone in love...

"Because he told me. He used to be in love." Iris said, sounding a little bored.

"What!?" Dawn was on her feet again. "With who? When!?"

"With some girl called May from Hoenn. He told me all about what he felt for her, and I told him that was love. So he does know a bit about it. Of course he got over her."

"Ash was in love with May? Wow..." Then she was hit by an idea that shattered her heart. "So if he knows what it feels like, he mustn't feel that for me."

"How do you know?" Iris asked, shrugging. "Maybe he does."

"Iris..." Dawn started, gulping, "Will you help me?"

Iris chuckled a little at the bluenette's pleading eyes. "I can't make people fall in love Dawn... Though I wish I could."

"No, that's not what I meant." Dawn ignored her last sentence. "I just want to know whether he likes me or not. I know it's a long shot but maybe..."

"Oh, I already kind of asked him that but didn't get a proper answer. I'll try for you."

"Oh... Thank you Iris." Dawn smiled warmly as Iris stood and left the room. Dawn brought her knees up and rested her head on them. She completely ignored Paul as he came in, and eventually just lay down to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Dawn awoke to the sound of Ash and Paul arguing in the corridor. She rolled her eyes and pulled the covers over her head, until she heard someone enter the room.

She figured it was Paul and rose from her bed, ignoring the fact that her hair was a complete mess.

"Morning, Dawn." Ash smiled at her, and she gasped, brushing her fingers through her hair.

"Er... Morning Ash." She blushed a little.

"I just wanted to tell you that we'll wait for you in the café downstairs." He rubbed the back of his head nervously, noticing that she'd gotten too warm so had stripped down to just a small vest.

Dawn looked down at herself, also remembering that fact, and cringed.

"I'll be down soon." She sighed. Ash nodded and left the room, allowing her to get herself up, showered, and dressed.

When Dawn finally entered the café, Ash and Paul were sitting at a table. They seemed calmer now, which was a good thing.

She slowly made her way over and took a seat beside Paul and opposite Ash.

"Morning guys, where's Iris and Cilan?"

Paul smirked and Ash rubbed the back of his head again. "Well, you see..."

"Iris and Cilan got together last night." Paul shrugged. "Now it seems they want to travel together alone. I don't blame them."

"Wait, Iris and Cilan are leaving?" Dawn asked. _Iris said she would help me figure out how Ash felt though..._

"Yeah, which means that I get to travel with you two!" Ash said cheerfully. Dawn's head jolted up and her heart started beating faster. She was going to travel with Ash again...

It was hard to contain the tears of joy that were forming, but she managed to, and just grinned at him instead.

"That sounds awesome!" Dawn exclaimed. She really liked the idea of Paul being there too, for some reason. She'd grown to trust him in the few days they'd travelled together.

"So," Ash started, standing up, "We may as well set off now!"

"Wait," Dawn said, standing also, "I need to speak to Iris. Is she still here?"

"Uh, yeah." Ash said in a confused tone. "She's in her room."

"I won't be long!" Dawn shouted back, since she was already running towards Iris and Cilan's room.

* * *

"Hey, Iris?" Dawn knocked on the door of their room for the second time. "You there?"

Suddenly the door swung open, and an elated Iris appeared on the other side.

"Hey Dawn!"

"Congratulations on getting with Cilan!" Dawn congratulated her, and smiled for ear to ear, although what she really wanted was to know if Iris had talked to Ash...

"Oh, Dawn, I know why you came." Iris said suddenly. "I did talk to him last night."

"What did he say?" Dawn asked, with a demanding tone to her voice.

"He said that he didn't know. He was completely honest with me. I asked him if he liked anybody and he said that he didn't think he had those feelings for May any more."

"He didn't say anything about me, did he?" She asked, not even attempting to mask the depression in her voice.

"No... I'm sorry Dawn. Maybe you can make him fall for you."

"Yeah right." Dawn lowered her gaze. "I spent two years doing it, even if I didn't realize it. If he felt anything for me at all, I'd be able to see... Thank you for your help though." Dawn turned and slowly padded away from the door. Iris was speaking to her, but Dawn had blocked everything out as she thought of Ash. She felt everything but heard nothing as her heart shattered into thousands of pieces.

* * *

**And that's the end of chapter 4.**

**I don't want to seem really naggy, but I am getting lots of views but hardly any reviews. This could mean everyone was just reading the first chapter for all I know. So if you could, please review? It would make my day! :D**

**And yes, this story will be about Ash, Dawn and Paul's adventures in Unova (mostly). Ash will also mature a lot in this story as he starts to realize what it's like to be a man. ;) That sounded weird.**

**Anyway, until next time,**

**Ninja.**


	4. Trapped

**Hello again ;)**

**Okay, it actually IS chapter 4 this time, hehe. I think this may be the longest chapter I've ever wrote, but it's still not that long. **

**Anyway, enjoy! :D**

* * *

"So Paul, where do ya wanna head to first? We can go to this gym, or head back across the desert so you can get your first gym badge there."

Paul stood between Ash and Dawn, and was slightly taller than both of them. In many ways, he was also more mature than them. He knew how to handle situations perfectly, and knew exactly how someone was feeling just by looking at them. There was also one thing that Paul had done once, that Ash and Dawn probably did not want to know about.

"I don't really care." Paul answered truthfully, and turned to face his new travelling companions. "I guess the first gym would be the sensible thing, right?"

"Uh... I suppose so." Ash agreed with him as they left the Pokemon Centre through the double doors onto the warm streets of Nimbasa. The sun flooded into Dawn's eyes, and she brought her hand up to cover them.

"I need to buy things. You two can wait outside if you like." He said, and re-entered the Pokemon Centre to buy whatever he needed.

"Why didn't he just buy them while we were in there?" Dawn raised her eyebrow. Really, Paul had done it so that Dawn could have time alone with Ash and confess to him. Of course she didn't figure that out. He would keep giving them this time until they finally told each other, because Dawn's grumpy mood was starting to tick him off.

"Maybe he forgot he needed to buy something." Ash shrugged and leaned against the wall by the door. Nobody was walking past the centre, to their surprise. It was a relatively quiet day.

"Ash..." Dawn started after a little while, and turned to face him. She stared deep into his eyes, and prepared to say it. This was it. She was going to tell Ash exactly how she felt about him, even if he didn't say it back. She needed to get this off her chest.

"Yeah, Dawn?" He smiled warmly at her, and she froze.

"Uh... I... I missed you a lot." She smiled, but inside she wanted to hit herself for not saying it.

"Aw, Dawn. I missed you a lot too." He smiled again and stepped forward to pull her in for a hug. As she felt his body warmth, she had an incredible urge to kiss him, but knew she couldn't do it.

She pulled away first as she thought about something. Dawn had been there when May had seen Ash for the first time in months, and Ash did not hug her, and if she remembered rightly, he didn't say he'd missed her either. Of course he had missed her, but maybe not as much as he had missed Dawn?

_No, Dawn, he's just a lot more mature now. _

Paul appeared by the doors and looked over at them standing in silence and shook his head. He had peered out of the window and saw Dawn making her move. It just wasn't going to happen.

"Ready to go then?" He asked, sounding bored. "I've got something I want to do tomorrow night at least in Castelia City, so I want to get there fast."

"Something you want to do... Tomorrow night?" Ash raised an eyebrow at Paul as they started to walk.

"Yes, don't ask me about it. You'll see when we get there." Paul stuck his hands in his pockets as they walked on. Nobody had anything to say, so the group fell silent for a while.

Soon after, Dawn, Paul and Ash were on the sandy desert again. Instead of raining this time, it was boiling hot, so hot that Paul had to take his jacket off. They had only been walking along the route for a few hours, when they reached a point where it was possible to turn off. Dawn stopped to look down the optional route, and squinted to see what looked like a castle.

"Hey guys, is that a castle?" She asked, more towards Ash than Paul.

"Yeah, it is. Cilan told me it's called Relic Castle. Apparently it's a maze in there, and the ruins of an ancient city." Ash answered her, surprising everyone with his knowledge of the place.

"I want to go look." Dawn said, and without waiting, set off down the path. Ash shrugged and followed her. Paul rolled his eyes and dragged his feet as he followed. Knowing these two, they were going to get into some sort of trouble.

Dawn gawked at the giant hole in the ground, surrounded by the diggers and cranes, and quite a few builders. A large bridge led to an elevator that took them down to the entrance to the large green building. It was unlike anything Dawn had ever seen before. The multi-coloured towers and roofs entranced her, and all she wanted to do was go inside. The only problem was that they were obviously not allowing visitors.

"Hello." Dawn walked up to one of the men, who turned to look at her in surprise. He held a cup of coffee in his hand, and a cigarette stuck out of his mouth.

"Yes, ma'am?" He asked, taking the cigarette from his mouth and setting down his coffee on a table that had been set up.

"What's inside that castle?" She pointed down to it, but the man did not follow her finger. He inspected Ash as he appeared beside Dawn for a moment.

"The ruins of an ancient city. They say it's just a big maze down there. We sent some workers down there three days ago and they haven't returned yet." He shrugged and picked up his coffee again, taking a long sip from it. "I don't think we're ever gonna see 'em again. That's why I'm not going down there me'self."

"Why did they go down there then?" Dawn asked him, ignoring Paul muttering curses behind them.

"They didn't choose to." The man answered, and took a drag of his cigarette. Some of his co-workers were looking at him funny now, since he was talking to a bunch of teenagers they'd never seen before.

"They... What?"

The man leaned in a little and muttered quietly. "Something took them down there. It flew out'ta the sky and grabbed them by the arms and flew down that big 'ole in the roof. Nobody saw what it looked like, but they say it was like a giant... moth."

"A giant moth?" Ash spoke up. "Hardly sounds scary."

Paul smirked at Ash's attitude and crossed his arms.

"Oh, does it not? It takes a new 'un everyday. A new man, I mean. Most of our men are clearin' out. It's only interested in the hot shots that get all the dough though. Why not stay an' have a look, ya might see it." He turned away and stuck the cigar in his moth again. Dawn turned to look at Ash and Paul again.

"No, no, no." Paul shook his head. "We are not staying. I am not wasting my time at a place like this."

"Ah, please Paul?" Dawn winked at him, which caught his attention. For some reason, he felt his cheeks get hotter.

"...Fine."

"Thanks Paul." Dawn smiled over at him. "Hey mister?" She turned back to the man, who also turned to look at her. "Have any spare tents?"

"'Course we do. Everyone's leaving, pet. 'Ere, I'll go get ya some." He nodded and strode off to a caravan.

He returned just five minutes later with two tents.

"Sorry, we only have two tents, kids. Someone will have to share." Before he could do anything, Paul took one of the tents and wandered over to a space.

"I'm sure you two want to share anyway." He smirked. Dawn turned to glare at him and argue, but Ash stayed facing away. Paul figured he hadn't understood what he meant, but he was wrong. Ash knew exactly what he meant, and all he could do was let his eyes wander and blush a little.

Dawn took the other tent from the man and thanked him before going to set it up. Ash wandered over and helped her silently, until it was completely set up, and the sleeping bags were inside it.

Paul didn't come out of his tent for the rest of the night. Dawn spent her time playing with her Poketch, talking to the man, and annoying Paul in his tent. Ash... Well he spent his time watching Dawn.

The night before, Iris had talked to him about May. Ash had always felt weird around her. He had the whole butterflies in stomach thing, the blushing, wanting to be near her all the time. At one point he had the urge to do something like hug her. Iris told him that he probably wanted to kiss her. Then she had told him this meant he was in love with her.

Now, Ash was getting these feelings again, and he didn't know what to do. Last time he hadn't told her, and she'd gotten away. When May returned to Sinnoh, he felt nothing. It had all died. This time, it was the complete opposite. When Dawn had returned, he realized just how much he'd missed her, and the feelings started to appear... So, there was one big question repeating in Ash's head.

_Am I in love with Dawn?_

He would feel weird telling her without knowing it completely, so he just sat staring at her for most of the night, his head in his hands. Only Paul noticed this, and smirked the whole time, even when Dawn was annoying him. Though for some reason, he did feel a little jealous...

"Hey Ash." Dawn was suddenly standing in front of him, causing him to jump. "I'm going to bed now. Night." She continued to stand in front of her.

In the few seconds that it took him to stand up, millions of thoughts flooded through his head. He had seen someone do this thing he was going to do before, and knew it showed some sort of affection. He thought maybe it would show Dawn that he cared for her, even if it wasn't love.

So he stood up and faced her, staring at her deeply.

"Night Dawn." He replied, and bent quickly to kiss her cheek before walking off to Paul's tent. He couldn't see it, but she was frozen, her eyes widened and her heart racing. He had... Kissed her cheek? She blushed bright red and turned to see that he was sitting by the fire they had built with Paul. She clutched her hands to her heart and smiled before walking into the tent, lying down, and falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times before sitting up in her sleeping bag. She was sure she had heard a noise, but it was probably nothing.

She looked to her right. Ash was facing away from her in his sleeping bag, with Pikachu curled up beside him. He was completely silent, making her wonder whether he was actually asleep or not.

"Ash?" She whispered as a test, but got no reply.

She stood silently and crawled out of the tent, and was greeted by utter darkness. She could see nobody else out, everyone was inside their caravans or tents. Of course she forgot why that was.

Paul was asleep in his tent too, so everything was silent. Nothing moved, nothing stirred.

Until she saw the thing in the sky, and squinted to see what it was.

It was already heading towards her anyway.

A murderous scream sounded through the entire area. Since it was so big, only one side heard, and most people did not even wake up. But, of course, Ash did. He woke to the sound of the scream, completely alert. He noticed Dawn's empty sleeping bag beside him, shoved his shoes and jacket on in seconds and sprinted from his tent.

Dawn was standing there, frozen like a statue. He wondered why on earth she had screamed, and started to walk towards her, ready to ask her if she was okay.

Then he spotted it. The giant silhouette heading her way. It was easily the size of the man they were talking to earlier, maybe even bigger. He had only just been taller than Paul. It had its claws outstretched, ready to grab her, just like it had those men.

"Get outta there Dawn!" Ash shouted and started to run towards her, not wanting anything other than to save her. He ran as fast as he could, and heard someone else running beside him, but he knew neither of them would get to her in time.

The claws of the pokemon grabbed her waist, and she started to flail around in its arms. Ash reached out to her, and grabbed her hand.

"Ash!" She shouted, even though he was just there. He held on tight to her hand, and looked up to the pokemon.

Its eyes were bright blue and bug-like, staring right down at him. They showed no signs of emotion at all, and never moved. It's large orange wings stopped fluttering, but somehow it stayed floating in the air. Its torso was covered in a white mane, than fell smoothly across its body. Ash had never seen a pokemon like this before.

"Let her go!" He shouted at it, and pulled on Dawn's hand. Finally, its eyes showed some emotion; Alert.

It pulled on her too, almost pulling Ash from the ground, but he stood strong with a determined look on his face. "Let her go!" He repeated, and closed his eyes as he yanked at her arm, trying to pull her free.

Then the creature pulled with all its might, and Ash was lifted from the ground too, hanging from Dawn's hand.

"No, Ash! I can't hold you like this!" Dawn cried out, trying to pry her hand free before they got too far away and he couldn't fall safely.

"I don't c-" Ash was cut off when he felt someone grab his waist and pull him back down, forcing him to let go of Dawn's hand.

He kicked at whoever it was and called out to Dawn as she disappeared into the castle with the pokemon.

"You never would have survived that. She would not have been able to hold you, and you would have fallen right down there." Ash recognized the voice as Paul, and calmed down instantly. He was right. But still, now Dawn was in there, and nobody even knew what was down there at all.

"But we can still go get her." Ash said, remembering the lift he had noticed when they'd arrived.

He ran over to the bridge, with Paul hot on his heels. He crossed the bridge easily and pressed the button. It only took a few seconds for the lift to arrive, and he stepped in it, along with Paul. There was only two options; Up or Down. He pressed the down button, and tried to keep himself calm as it slowly descended.

"Watch out, Ash." Paul said as the lift stopped and the doors opened. He grabbed Ash's shoulder to stop him from running off, and walked along the bridge at a normal pace with him, until they entered the castle itself.

Along the sides of the corridor, lanterns lit the room. Neither of them cared how they kept lit, or who lit them, they only cared about saving Dawn.

"I know you want to go running in there, but we have no idea what we'll find. It would be best if we didn't just run off." Paul warned him, and began to walk down the long corridor of stone. Ash followed, his eyes wandering all along the walls. If anything had happened to Dawn... He didn't know what he would do. He desperately wanted to run off and save her, but as usual, Paul made a good point.

"Send out a fire Pokemon if you have one." Paul ordered as he stopped by the door at the far end of the corridor. Ash stared at him blankly, grabbed a pokeball, and tossed it up.

Pignite appeared from the pokeball, unsure of where it was. It looked up at Paul and its eyes widened.

"If we need to light lanterns in other rooms, we're going to need a fire type, and I don't have any on me." Paul explained, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and kept on walking down the corridor. Ash nodded down to Pignite and followed Paul again into the next room.

The room they entered was massive. It could have easily been a town square, or a giant ballroom. At the far end of the room, the ground was raised, making it look like a stage of some sort. The whole room was just empty, except for a few dusty, worn out banners that were hanging limply on the side walls.

"This place is... strange." Ash shuddered. "I don't like it."

"Yeah, well unfortunately that stupid girl was idiotic enough to stand there as it came for her." Paul insulted and merely continued walking.

"Hey, don't call Dawn stupid. She's not stupid." Ash defended her, sounding slightly violent. "Do you even know where you're going?"

Paul stopped in his tracks and realized he really had no idea where he was planning on walking to.

"There's a door over there beside that stage. It probably leads into the middle of this place." Ash lifted his finger to point at a door that was well hidden by the stage. Paul hadn't even spotted the door at all.

"Right." Paul said with little interest, and changed directions so that he was heading that way.

"What's your problem, Paul?" Ash asked, as he caught up with him. "You always sound so bored. You just acted like you don't care about Dawn. I think you do, because why would you agree to travel with her if you hated her. So, why did you really choose to travel with her?"

Ash made it sound like he really already understood Paul's feelings, but he didn't. He really did want to know why he was travelling with Dawn at all. Ash was glad he'd found the two. For some reason, he didn't like the idea of Dawn travelling with just Paul.

"Because she asked me and I had done something horrible at the time. Maybe I was just in a good mood."

"You did something horrible?"

"Yeah. She was in the lake, and I watched her. Like any normal teenage boy would do."

Ash opened his mouth to say something-

"And before you shout at me, I didn't know it was her."

"... You have more tolerance for Dawn now, don't you?" Ash asked, and Paul fell silent. They were nearing the door now, but neither noticed. "But you don't have more tolerance for me. What's going on with you, Paul? Why are you even here, travelling with us, when you used to hate both of us?"

"... I'm not answering that question for you."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because you're annoying." Paul snapped. "Because you have no idea about people liking other people, do you? I bet you didn't even understand what that meant."

"..." Ash couldn't think of what to say any more. "... Paul... Are you in love with Dawn?"

Paul, thinking Ash didn't even know what love was, looked away. He hated people seeing him weak, and he hated it when they figured out his emotions. Love was for the weak, yet he was feeling it. He had figured it out now.

"...Yes. Are you happy now?"

"... I do know about people liking each other. I'm not that stupid."

"Oh, really, and have you ever liked someone? You don't really understand unless the answer is yes."

"Well the answer _is _yes. I liked a girl from Hoenn, a couple of years ago. Her name was May, and she was thirteen. I liked her a lot, so I understand. Maybe I didn't know what it was that I was feeling, but I still felt it."

"My turn to ask you the question."

"Wha-"

"Do you love Dawn?" He cut Ash off. They were very close to the door now. He watched Ash turn his head away and frown deeply. His eyebrows furrowed as he refused to look back at Paul.

"I... Don't know yet." He answered truthfully. "I don't want to talk about this any more."

Paul didn't say anything as they entered the other room. He knew that Dawn loved Ash, but he didn't understand why. He was just going to have to deal with that pain himself, because even if Ash didn't love Dawn, Paul was never going to have her.

He shook his head of the thoughts and inspected the room around him instead. This room was far different. Tall walls rose up towards the ceiling, creating a kind of maze. However most of the walls had collapsed, so you could easily climb over them, and the maze wasn't difficult any more. The gaps between the streets were big, they could have easily been streets. Then his eyes noticed buildings, further back in the room. They were also crumbling, and were merely stone blocks with holes for windows, but still buildings.

"I just saw it." Ash whispered over, already forgetting about the previous conversation. "It went into that door over there." He pointed to a door that was perhaps a few minutes away from where they were. "Let's go."

Paul followed Ash as he climbed over large piles of rubble and hopped over small walls. Ash had always been good at climbing, even Paul knew that.

"Wait up, Ash!" Paul called, but Ash was away, already far ahead, nearing the door. Paul decided he wasn't going to bother trying to catch up. He slowed down so he didn't hurt himself climbing.

Meanwhile, Ash peered through the door. The weird pokemon was hovering, staring down at Dawn, who was sitting against the wall crying. Ash felt a twang of sadness as he watched her cry. He knew Paul wasn't going to catch up any time soon. He was going to do this by himself.

He grabbed Unfezant's pokeball silently and watched for another moment as Dawn buried her head in her hands.

The pokemon moved in closer to her and she cried out. "No, keep away from me. Don't hurt me."

Ash suddenly threw Unfezant's pokeball, startling the giant pokemon and making it turn away from Dawn. Ash ran into the room and stood in front of it.

"Ash!" Dawn exclaimed happily, and stopped crying. He noticed how her eyes lit up, and couldn't help but smile too.

"Unfezant, aerial ace!" Ash commanded, and gestured for Dawn to run over- which she did. She ran over to his side and watched as the pokemon was hit by the aerial ace. It didn't look like it did much damage. Ash cringed and grabbed her hand, causing her to blush.

All her thoughts stopped as he pulled her away, running out of the door and almost knocking Paul over.

"Come on, Paul!" He shouted back to them as they ran off ahead. Paul turned his head for a moment, saw the giant pokemon flying their way, and turned to leg it out of the building.

Dawn tried to keep up as Ash pulled her along, weaving between the walls, trying to confuse whatever that pokemon was. It seemed to work for a while, until it popped up in front of them.

In pure shock, Dawn screamed and threw a random pokeball.

"Pachirisu!" The pokemon shouted in happiness, and released an extremely powerful discharge. It knocked the moth pokemon to the ground and gave the three just enough time to run past. They ran through the door into the bigger room and slammed the rusty thing shut behind them,

"Ash, grab that plank!" Paul ordered, pointing to a pile of planks that looked worn. Ash did as he said- grabbed it and tossed it to Paul.

Paul jammed it between the lock of the door. It would take a good few minutes for anything to break through that.

"Wait, what about the other people?" Dawn asked, as she started to run after the two boys in front of her.

"We'll tell the others that there's only one pokemon and maybe they can send a team down here to rescue them." Ash called to her, never slowing down. Slowly, she caught up, and got the courage to grab Ash's hand and fit her fingers between his. He wasn't bothered by it, and that gave Dawn another ray of hope. She had completely forgotten about the kiss on the cheek... for now.

They burst into the corridor and ran down that too. It only took them a minute before they were in the elevator and headed up to the surface.

"We don't have to run now, that thing... I'm guessing it doesn't like coming out here when it's light." Paul said as the elevator doors opened up for them. It had gotten a lot lighter, but still nobody was outside.

"Come on." Paul added and started across the bridge. Dawn slowly released Ash's hand and lamely tried to hide the blush on her face. Ash's face, however, was completely serious and still full of worry.

They stepped off of the bridge and onto the soil. Paul decided to go on ahead, walking faster than the other two. Dawn and Ash walked silently beside each other, not having anything to say.

"Why were you outside, Dawn?" Ash asked finally, as they reached the tents and he sat by the fire.

"I woke up and heard something so I went outside to check what it was." Dawn answered and sat herself beside him. They couldn't tell anybody until they woke up, and they wouldn't be able to sleep again that night.

"... I was worried sick about you."

"Sorry for making you worry." Dawn apologized. Ash said nothing, and started to rummage in his bag. He found what he was looking for, and pulled it out. It looked like a box that you would keep a piece of jewellery in. He opened it and looked at it, but said nothing to Dawn. For a moment, she got her hopes up... Was that for her? Who else would he buy it for?

"What have you got there, Ash?" She asked innocently.

"A present." Ash smiled and looked at her.

"Oh... For who?"

"May."

Dawn could feel her heart drop and shatter quickly, before she'd heard everything he had to say.

"It's her birthday in a few days. I thought I would send it over for her." Ash continued, not noticing Dawn's disappointed expression. But as she heard him explain it, she calmed. It was just a birthday present.

"How old is she?" Dawn pretended to be interested. Of course she loved May a lot, they were like best friends, but she would still get jealous because Ash had bought her something expensive.

"She's turning sixteen, like you and me." Ash answered and stuffed the box back in his bag. "I actually wasn't sure whether to send it or not, because I haven't talked to her in months and months."

"That doesn't matter." Dawn smiled. "I'm glad I got to stay with you, I don't know what I'd do if we didn't talk in months." She blurted out before she could think about what she was saying. She covered her mouth quickly... Now he was going to think she was stupid.

"Hey, don't worry Dawn, we're travelling together again now, we'll see each other every day." He winked at her.

"Hello, kids." A voice sounded behind them, and they turned their heads to see the worker they had chatted to the day before. He had his coffee again, and a packet of cigars hanging from his pocket.

"Mister, I didn't just see the pokemon." Dawn stood up to face him. "I was standing outside and it took me."

The man looked as if he was going to spit out his coffee.

"It what!?"

"It took me down into the castle. There's only one of it, and your men are down there alive. If you sent a rescue team down there you could save them. After all Ash managed to save me." She turned to smile at Ash for a moment, then looked back to the man.

"...Right. I'll go tell the boss." He nodded and hurried off, spilling his coffee.

"They get up early." Paul appeared beside Dawn. Now that Ash knew he loved Dawn, he couldn't help but watch his every move... But why?

"They have to." Dawn answered him. "And I think we should leave now."

"Yes we shoul-"

Paul was cut off by the sound of something ringing. Ash's eyes widened as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a mobile phone... Since when did he have one of those?

"Who the heck would be calling me?" He asked, and picked it up reluctantly. "Hello?"

Dawn and Paul stood still, eager to know who it was that had called him. Ash's face lit up when the person on the other side's reply. Dawn hadn't seen him so happy in the time she'd been in Unova.

"Hey May!" He greeted, and Dawn and Paul glanced at each other.

"Hey, Ash!" May greeted back, though Dawn and Paul could not hear her. "How are you?"

"Uh... I'm fine, May. I didn't expect you to call me."

"I know... I really miss talking to you, Ash. It's been like a year. So I want to ask you something." He couldn't see it, but she started to twirl the telephone cord around her finger as if she was nervous.

"Go ahead."

May sighed. "Well... I'm back in Hoenn for a couple of weeks... And it's my birthday soon. I was wondering if you wanted to come back to Hoenn for a while... Like a party."

Ash didn't answer her, he was frozen. He could go and see May for the first time in a year. He missed her so much, how could he say no? She was his best friend.

"May, I would love to! Could I bring some friends though?"

"Sure!" May sounded ecstatic. "Who are they?"

"Dawn and my Sinnoh rival Paul."

"You still travel with Dawn?" May sounded a little down, it worried him.

"Yeah... Why?"

"Just wondering! So Ash, I'll see you in a few days! Bye!" She said and hung up, leaving Ash frozen with the phone still against his ear.

"What did she want, Ash?" Dawn asked him, noticing how elated he looked.

"Well, we're going to go to Castelia city," Ash said, grinning widely, "Then we're taking a ferry to Hoenn."

* * *

**Yes! Ash and the gang head to Hoenn for a few days, and I guarantee there will be drama there...**

**Anyway this story is about there adventures in Unova which is why I had them go to Relic Castle. Also I have an idea, there will be a poll up after the next chapter to see whether you agree or not. :3**

**Until next time,**

**Ninja.**


	5. Her heart shattered

**Hello again,**

**Yet again, this is quite a long chapter for me. I had a lot of time free, so I managed to get this up earlier than I expected to, yey~**

**Shippings in this chapter: **

**Pearlshipping, Ikarishipping, Advanceshipping**

**and lots of drunken banter :o**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Castelia city was alive with the sounds of children shouting, adults laughing, and arcade music playing. The late noon sun beat down on the streets, forcing people to bring their hands up to cover their eyes. Many women wore large sun hats, and almost everyone was wearing shorts and t-shirts. It was a beautiful day, but that was not what this group was focused on.

Dawn and Paul had not objected to going to Hoenn. Dawn loved May to bits since they'd met, and really wanted to see her again. Paul... Well, he had gotten an idea that suited him well. An idea that he wouldn't let anyone in on until they arrived, and he was sure someone else was already doing all of the work for him.

Now, Ash, Dawn and Paul were headed up the main street of Castelia city, where they would eventually turn left and head to the pokemon centre. Ash didn't like the idea of having to wait since he was so excited to see May. This made Dawn a little jealous, but she kept it to herself and decided not to bother anyone else with her problems. She didn't class them as proper problems anyway.

"Hey Ash..." Dawn started nervously. She had been wanting to ask him something for a while now. "There's lots of casinos in this city... Do you want to go to one later?"

Ash was startled by her offer, and Paul was even more shocked. She was asking him on a date? Perhaps. Was she planning on confessing to him? It made Paul worry.

"Uh... But what about Paul?" Ash asked, much to Paul's surprise. He thought he would say yes right away, without hesitation. Paul especially didn't expect Ash to ask about him.

"Oh... You can come too Paul, if you like." Dawn said, but Paul could tell she didn't like the idea much herself. Paul decided that he wasn't going to look weak, and he was going to act as if he didn't care, even though he did really...

"No, I'm fine. I don't want to go to a dumb casino. You two can go if you like." Paul uttered as if he was bored, as usual.

Ash looked to Dawn, who was starting to worry that Ash didn't want to.

"Of course I'll go with you, Dawn." He smiled in a way that made her heart melt, and she felt overjoyed instantly. "Just tell me where and when."

"Hmm... That place, over there?" She pointed to a normal looking casino, with all the slot machines and activities. Ash still wondered why she wanted to go to a casino in the first place. The truth was that Dawn had really wanted to ask about going to a restaurant, but had been too shy to. The casino would have to do.

"Sure, if you like."

They didn't say much else until they reached the pokemon centre, where as usual they asked Nurse Joy for a room to stay in. The room had one single bed, and a bunk. Paul and Ash decided to share the bunk bed, because Dawn was the lady. Even though Paul wasn't much of a gentlemen, he did care about Dawn, and kind of wanted to be kind to her.

"Thank you, Paul." She had said after he had suggested the idea to Ash, who had agreed. Then they'd all gone to their room, and set their bags down.

Ash looked out of the window. The sky was already dark, and millions of stars were visible. More than most nights. The moon was also full, and staring down at him with a bright shine. It made him

want to stare all night.

"Can we go out now, Ash?" Dawn snapped Ash out of his trance. Ash glanced over at Paul, who was looking at a magazine. On the outside, it was a pokemon magazine, but on the inside... Well, you don't really want to know.

"Yeah, let's go." Ash agreed, and walked out of the room without saying a thing to Paul, who didn't want to communicate anyway.

It only took them ten minutes to walk to a casino, where Dawn was instantly in her element, hopping from machine to machine, popping money in here and there, but never winning much. She was like a small child in a sweet shop. Ash tried some of the machines too, but mostly just watched over Dawn. He enjoyed watching her so happy.

Eventually, when Ash was having a try of his own, he heard Dawn running over. He turned to meet her gaze, and noticed that she had something in her hand. She held it out for him to see, and he saw that it was a rather large Piplup keyring, and she was chuffed with it.

"Wow, that's nice Dawn." Ash grinned. Then his eyes wandered to the left, where there was a stand. People were trying to shoot targets down as they moved, with a machine that shot out pokeballs.

Dawn followed his gaze, and caught sight of the main prize- A pokemon egg. It sat in a canister, protected from everything around it, and there was no way you could tell which pokemon it was. Dawn's eyes lit up. She needed that egg.

"I have to go try for that." Dawn said simply and rushed over to the stand. The boy behind the stand eyed her as she ran over. Ash stayed where he was for now, and turned back to what he'd been doing.

"Hello. I'd like a try at winning the egg, please." She said, and handed over the money. The boy said nothing, and was watching her with a funny look on his face. He nodded once and she wandered over to one of the machines. She'd never played anything like this before, so she tried to get used to holding the machine first, then decided to have a go.

The targets were moving pokemon. You had to knock them over with the pokeballs. Dawn shot her first ball, and knocked down the passing Machop. The next target was a much smaller one, and it was a Togepi. Dawn shot at it once, and missed badly. Then another Machop passed, and she hit it perfectly. One of the children beside her stopped playing to watch her. She tried at the Togepi again, and hit it first time. Now she just had to hit one more, a medium sized Seviper. She was confident she was going to do it- after all she had three shots left. The other ones, which the children had found difficult, she had hit easily. So she became overly confident, and shot aimlessly at the Seviper, and missed it. She cursed under her breath and waited for it to go past again. She shot again- another miss.

"You only have one left, now." The boy had left his place behind the stand to stand beside her. He was no older than eighteen.

"I know..." Dawn said, and stuck her tongue out in concentration. He was amused by this.

As he was chuckling, she shot her last pokeball out, and knocked the Seviper right over. He raised his eyebrows at her as she grinned from ear to ear, and gave a little victory jump.

"Yes!" She turned to him, ecstatic because she was going to have another egg to raise. The boy nodded at her again and went behind his stand again. He emerged again just seconds later, holding the egg canister. He handed it to her. It was just small enough to fit in her bag. She put it in, so that it wouldn't get smashed in the crowd.

"You're good." The boy complimented, leaning against the stand. "Very good."

"Oh, thank you." Dawn blushed a little.

About 10 feet away, Ash looked over to her, and saw her talking to the boy. He may have still been a little dense, but he knew when someone was flirting. That boy was flirting with Dawn. Ash couldn't help but feel protective, and started to walk over.

"My name's Dawn, nice to meet you." She shook hands with him.

"Well, Dawn, would you like to come over to my place later? We can watch a movie, or do whatever you want to do." He leaned closer to her, smiling sweetly. Dawn was suddenly frowning, and he thought he knew what she was going to say.

"You have a boyfriend, don't you?"

"No, no!" Dawn corrected him. "I don't, but..."

"Aw, come on Dawn." He reached out and touched her arm. She was going to back away a little, but he wrapped his hand around her wrist.

Dawn was suddenly scared. He had seemed nice, but his darker side was starting to show. His eyes had darkened and he looked demanding, as if he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Then Ash appeared in front of her, and raised his eyebrows at the boy in front of him. Instantly, he dropped her wrist, and she grabbed Ash's arm. He looked back at her, and smiled. The boy blinked a few times, realized what was going on, and then disappeared behind his stand again.

"You okay, Dawn?" Ash asked her, as she let go of his arm.

"Yeah. No harm done." She smiled, and opened her bag briefly so that Ash could look. "I won the egg!"

"Awesome, Dawn! I wonder what it is?"

"We'll just have to wait and find out." She winked and closed her bag.

It took them just ten minutes again to walk back to the pokemon centre. It was around eleven, and everything was pitch black. When they entered their room, Paul was asleep on the top bunk, with some sort of bottle sticking out of the bars.

"... I don't want to know where he got that..." Dawn said, and pulled the bottle quietly away from him. As she did, some of it dripped onto the carpet, and she rolled her eyes at his state. Why the hell had Paul been drinking? Little did she know, that she was the reason behind all of his curious behaviour.

Dawn threw the bottle away, and pulled the covers over Paul, who was shivering in his sleep. Ash noticed how motherly she acted towards him, and smiled. He lay down on his bunk eventually, when Dawn was already lying on one half of her rather big bed.

It took almost an hour for Ash to become completely relaxed. He figured Dawn had gone to sleep rather quickly, since she hadn't moved or made any noise for just over forty five minutes.

Ash was just about to get to sleep, when he heard Paul sit up. He kept his eyes closed and listened to Paul climb down the ladders. He heard Paul's footsteps, then the sound of the door opening and closing. He didn't really want to know where Paul was going without his shoes on. Probably someone else's room. He'd be there all night.

Ash realized that the reason he wasn't sleeping was because he wasn't comfortable in the bunk at all. He noticed that Dawn had gotten to sleep right away. He was thinking of doing something he'd never done before. But would Dawn accept it? Would she think it was inappropriate? He had such an urge to do it, because of course he was getting those feelings for her.

Ash stepped out of his bed and padded over to hers instead. He had never shared a bed with anyone before.

He slipped in quietly, and noted that she still didn't make a noise. He allowed himself to get very close to her, noticing that he was more comfortable that way.

Dawn did not wake, but she did turn to face him. In her sleep, she lay her head on his chest and her right arm swung over him, so it looked like she was hugging him. He blushed bright red at this, but eventually started to get over it. He didn't think about what would happen if she woke first in the morning. Just half an hour after he had went to sleep in her bed instead, he had fallen asleep, with his head resting on her shoulder.

Just as Ash hadn't worried about, Dawn woke first in the morning. At first she realized nothing, because she didn't open her eyes and she was still half asleep. Then she noticed that she had her head on something a little more solid that a pillow, and her arm was slung around it too. And it was rising and falling steadily. She froze.

Slowly and reluctantly, she opened one eye. Her cheeks turned as red as a beetroot as she realized just what was going on. She tilted her head to look up at who's chest she was resting on, and of course it was Ash. She lifted her head and arm and carefully lifted his head off of her shoulder. She lay it down on the pillow instead, and looked down at him. Why had he come into her bed? What if she put her head on him while he was still awake.

He was still in a deep sleep, and she wanted to do something so bad. He wouldn't wake up if she did it, but still she didn't know whether to or not.

_You may as well try, Dawn..._

Dawn listened to herself, and slowly lowered her head. She quickly brought her lips down to his, and pulled away again. Even though he was not awake, so could not have been kissing her back, it meant a lot to her, and she blushed again. She was going to have to tell him soon. She could hardly control her emotions anymore.

Emotional and angry now, she grabbed her beanie from the side table and stuffed it over her hair without brushing it. Then, of course, she realized what she had done and took it off again so she could brush it.

Then she just sat. She had realized that Paul had disappeared, and she didn't want to know where he'd gone off to. Dawn hadn't noticed when she'd first met up with him, but it was clear to her now; Paul had fucked up his life. He had in fact been out drinking before, because he had some sort of problem that she would never ask about. If she did ask, she would probably be ignored or get a sarcastic, inappropriate answer.

Dawn decided that once they reached Hoenn, she would join in this party of May's. Then, when Ash was in a good mood, and alone, she would corner him, and tell him. That way, if he told her that he didn't like her back, she would be able to disappear into the crowd, and drink away her problems. Or just leave, because their journey would be awkward and she wouldn't want to travel with him. It was a big risk to take, but there was always that slight chance of him liking her back.

She stood and pulled the beanie over her head once more. She was going to try to find Paul now, but she wouldn't bother herself too much over it. If she couldn't find him within half an hour, he was making his own way back.

It didn't take Dawn as long as she thought it would to find him. He was sitting in the downstairs café with another boy, that was perhaps a couple of years older than him. He looked half asleep, and he had somehow retrieved his shoes from their room.

"Paul?" Dawn approached the table. The other boy gave her a violent look before rising and wandering off as if he'd never met Paul at all.

"Yes?" Paul asked, as bored as ever, and took a sip from the coffee he had purchased himself. "Need something, or are you just bothering me for the hell of it?"

"We're travelling together Paul, deal with it, and no. I was wondering where you got that alcohol from last night, why you were drinking it, and where you went last night." She sat down opposite him and put on her best demanding face, that really wasn't very demanding at all.

"I believe I can answer all of those questions. One, it was not alcohol. Two, I was drinking it because I needed a drink. Three, I went to some guy I met last night's room, and I was tired so I ended up falling asleep there. Anything else you want to ask while you're here?"

"Yes, actually. When did you leave...?"

"I left when Ash was on his own bed. I came back when he wasn't." Paul's face turned sour, and she blushed bright red... again.

"I don't know why he did that..."

"Well then you're as ditzy as I thought you were." He muttered and sighed. "Go and wake him up. The next ferry leaves in an hour. If we have to go to Hoenn, I want to get there as early as possible. The earlier we get there, the earlier we get back."

Dawn rolled her eyes and strolled back up to her room, where Ash was not asleep any more. He was facing away from her, putting his hat on his head. He turned to face her, and she noticed that he looked a little nervous. She was nervous too.

"Thank you for coming to sleep with me last night, Ash." Dawn thanked him to break the awkward silence. "I... liked your company."

"Oh well... I couldn't sleep in that one, and... Well, never mind." Ash shook his head and lifted his bag up. He swung it over his shoulder and walked over to stand by her side. "I'm guessing Paul wants to leave now?"

"Yeah, and I kind of do too." Dawn answered as they left the room. "I want to see May really bad." She admitted, and Ash merely smiled at her.

"Took your time." Paul greeted as he met them in the middle of the centre. The trio headed towards the double doors, and stepped out into the once again sunny streets of Castelia.

"The docks are just across the road?" Dawn asked, raising an eyebrow. "I guess I was so excited last night that I didn't notice. Oh well, there's the ferry to Hoenn." She raised her hand to point to the third ferry away from them.

Ash was already headed that way, so Dawn and Paul followed him over. They boarded easily, and now they just had to wait until they reached Hoenn, which was closer than Sinnoh was. It would take them around a day to reach Hoenn still, though. Which meant they would be spending a night on the ferry, and they would have cabins. As they boarded, Paul asked for a separate cabin. Ash didn't bother asking why, and he couldn't care less.

Later, as darkness fell upon the sky, Ash and Dawn sat dangling their feet in the pool. Almost everyone had cleared off, since it was beginning to get chilly outside. It was the perfect time to tell Ash how she felt, but she wouldn't. There was nowhere she could escape to, should he say no. She would have to share a room with him still anyway. For now, she was content with just sitting outside with him.

"Do you want to go in now, Dawn? It is a little cold." Ash offered her his hand, as he had stood up before her. She took it gratefully and let him pull her up.

They walked silently back to their room, and sat down on their separate beds. Ash had just gotten comfy, when he heard Dawn utter his name from the other side of the room. He sat up again and looked over at her.

"Ash... Er..." She looked nervous again. "I liked it last night so, can I come over?" She stuttered a little. Ash was shocked. He wouldn't say no to her, but he didn't expect her to ask something like that. Was this going to become a regular thing?

"Sure, Dawn." He answered simply. She scurried over and crawled in, getting as close to Ash as she could. She wasn't shy anymore, so she pressed her body close to his, and let him wrap one arm around her. She felt more comfortable then than she ever had. Yes, it seemed this would be a regular thing. You could sleep in someone else's bed with them and not be their girlfriend, right?

The next morning, Dawn woke and Ash was already gone. His hat had been taken off the table by the bed. Pikachu still lay asleep at the foot of the bed, but Dawn wouldn't wake him.

She stood and slipped her boots and beanie on. Through the small cabin window she could see it was very nice outside. The sun leaked through and lit a circle on the floor. The rest of the room was dark.

She pushed open the cabin door and shut it behind her. The corridor wasn't very long, so it took her just a minute before she was out on the deck. She saw Ash leaning over the railings and wandered over, following his gaze. She knew instantly what he was looking at- Hoenn. They were approaching it fast, and they were docking in Petalburg itself, so they'd be able to meet up with May straight away. Dawn knew she would be waiting there for her. In just five minutes they'd be able to see her. She noticed that Ash was buzzing with excitement.

"I can't wait to see her." Dawn said and grinned. Silently, Paul appeared beside them and also leaned over the railings, followed by Pikachu, who jumped on Ash's shoulder.

"Me neither." Ash replied, as the docks came into view. A crowd of people were waiting there, but May stood out the most. She was the beautiful teen with the gorgeous brunette hair, standing alone. She still wore her Johto outfit, which really suited her. She had always been louder than Dawn, which would be a problem if she was planning on winning Ash. It was something Dawn worried about.

Ash spotted her and started to wave hysterically. Dawn watched her look up, almost looking bored. She spotted Ash waving at her, and her face lit up. She started to wave too, throwing both her arms up in the air. Everyone looked at her as if she was mad, but she didn't care. She continued to wave until the boat pulled into the dock, and she ran down it. Ash also turned and ran to where people were getting off.

He weaved in between people and pokemon, trying not to bump into anyone. Eventually he stepped off the boat onto the wooden dock, and turned to meet May's gaze. He ran again, desperate to reach her, and pulled her in for a friendly embrace before either could say anything. The hugged for a minute, until Dawn and Paul caught up. May pulled away and stepped back to look at the three of them that were travelling together in Unova.

"Hey, May!" Dawn greeted, and stepped forward so that she could share a high five with her old best friend.

"It's so nice to see you guys." She said honestly. She had been waiting at the port for over an hour, in case they arrived early.

"May, this is Paul. Paul, this is May." Ash introduced the two. Reluctantly, Paul shook her outstretched hand.

"I missed ya, May." Ash winked.

"I missed you too! Come on, we'll go back to my place."

The gym hadn't changed at all. Most of the giant building was still the families house, and the battlefield took up the rest of the space.

May took them through to the house, which was completely empty.

"My parents are out for the week, so I have the house to myself. Max is out at the minute, I think." She said, revealing that Max was also back for a short while too. Max had started his own journey three years ago, when he was old enough. He had competed in the Hoenn league, and had managed to get in the top 6. That was all that Ash knew.

Ash was completely satisfied just being here with May. Paul, however, was disappointed. He had expected there to be a party going on, so he could proceed with his plan, but there was nobody here. Not a single soul but May and whoever this 'Max' was.

May led them through to the gym. They did not enter, because it was dark. May hovered her hand over the light switch, and grinned from ear to ear.

"What are you grinning about?" Dawn eyed her suspiciously. May grinned even wider, and flicked on the switch.

Suddenly there was a clatter, and tons of people jumped up. His eyes widened as he tried to take it all in as they popped up.

Misty, Brock, Tracey, Ritchie, Marina, Harley, Solidad, Gary, Barry, Kenny and Lyra. He managed to count them before they even managed to shout "Surprise!"

Ash didn't care about how May had found all of these people. He was so ecstatic about seeing them all again, that all he could do was stand there as they came up to greet the four.

Meanwhile, Paul sat himself on a chair.

_I think this is going to be one heck of a party._

Later that day, as everyone sat talking in May's living room, Paul rose from his seat. Everyone else was talking to people they'd never met before, like Gary was talking to Barry, and Misty was talking to Lyra. Ash, well he was sitting close to Dawn, but talking to May. She was mystified by his tales of Sinnoh, Unova, and Relic Castle. Of course he didn't mention his conversation with Paul, since Dawn was sitting right beside him. She wouldn't talk to anyone but him.

May noticed Paul leaving the room with his hands stuffed in his pockets. She wondered why he always looked so grumpy, and where he was going- so she stood up to follow him. Ash barely noticed, since he had turned his attention to Misty, who was talking about her gym.

Paul stopped when he realized he was being followed and turned to face May. She faced him confidently, and Paul studied her. She was just as beautiful as Dawn, and Paul liked pretty girls.

"Your name's Paul, right?" She asked him finally, shuffling nervously.

"Yeah." He nodded simply, and took a seat at the kitchen table. May wandered over and sat opposite him. He realized he was going to be asked questions, probably about Ash.

"Can I ask you something, Paul?"

"Ask away." He sank back in his chair, and awaited her question.

"Does Ash love Dawn? Because she's been clinging to him all day, and he stays unnaturally close to her, like they're dating or something, but Ash us too dense for that, right?"

Paul sighed deeply. Why did he have to be involved in this? It was Ash's problem, not his.

"I don't know. If I was to guess, I'd say yes. Do you want to know what I caught them doing yesterday?"

May's eyes widened. "What was it?"

"They were sleeping together."

May jolted forward and almost choked. "What?!"

"No, no, not like that. I meant Ash had gone into her bed and she was like cuddling him. Sickening, if you ask me."

"So she loves him, right?"

"Yeah, and that's all I know. She loves him and he might love her. I'm curious, why did you ask me?"

May blushed bright red and turned away. "Um... Well..."

"Never mind, I get it. Everyone loves Ash. Even that Misty does. I can tell."

"Misty?"

"Yeah, they all cling to him like leeches. Lyra, Misty, Dawn, Marina... Only that older woman doesn't because he's too young for her. Even you cling to him."

"I do not!" May argued suddenly.

"You don't what?"

May turned to see Ash walking in. She froze suddenly and turned to Paul as if to warn him.

"Nothing." She replied as he came to stand behind her. She glanced briefly at the clock- 5pm.

"Hey May, where's Drew?" Ash asked her, putting his hands on the back of her chair. Paul noticed that May's face turned instantly sour. That question had hit some sort of weak spot.

"I don't talk to Drew anymore." She hissed, indicating that she didn't want to talk about him any longer.

"All right... If you don't mind, I'm going out with Dawn."

May's head whipped around suddenly. "Where to?"

"Just for a walk." He answered and smiled down at her. "Want to come?"

"No." May shook her head, and looked over at Paul. "I'm fine."

Ash nodded and left the room again. May sighed and placed her head in her hands.

"I'll be honest, I was hoping to bring Ash here and confess to him. Yes, I like him, always have. But now he has that Dawn and... He loves her, so I should be happy for him. I love Dawn to bits, so I can't be mad at her, it's not her fault anyway."

"I know how you feel."

"Oh?" May lifted her head again. "How come?"

"I admit that I... have feelings for Dawn. At least you're not completely sure if Ash loves Dawn. Dawn told me herself that she was in love with Ash. Ash hasn't said a thing to anybody."

"I guess. You know what I think we should do?" May asked and stood up. Paul said nothing and watched her carefully as she walked over to her fridge. May was about to show her slightly naughty side.

She opened the fridge door, and revealed alcohol. A lot of it. Paul smirked.

"May as well, it is my birthday, after all." She took a can out, and passed another to Paul. He caught it and opened it. May sat opposite him again, and began to sip her own.

Pretty soon after, Misty had discovered what May had been hiding, and began handing it out. Soon everyone was drinking it, and someone had found music to play. It was not like them all to get drunk, but that was what was going to happen. By the time everyone had gotten one, Paul was already tipsy, and asleep in his chair. May staggered into the living room and sat beside Gary, putting her arm around him. Gary shrugged and continued what he was doing.

Two hours later, when the clock struck 7:30 pm, Dawn and Ash re-entered the house. The first thing they saw was a chair upside down in the hall, and they could hear the music. Dawn glanced over at Ash with worry, and walked over to the living room door.

She peered in, and realized what was going on right away.

Lyra and Barry were busy kissing on the sofa, while Misty and May sung Karaoke. In the kitchen, Paul was awake, and arguing pointlessly with Ritchie, even though they'd just met. Dawn dared herself to walk upstairs. In one room, Gary and Kenny were putting make-up on, thinking they were very clever. The room was obviously May's. In another room, Brock was hitting on Solidad, who was sitting in a corner, not sure what she was doing.

When Dawn finally went back downstairs, she saw something she really didn't want to see. Paul had stopped arguing with Ritchie, who was now sleeping on the floor, and had passed Ash his own can of the 'ridiculous stuff'.

"Ash are you-" Before she could say crazy, someone grabbed her arm. She twirled around to see Misty, who was a little tipsy.

"Come on Dawn, I bet you're great at karaoke!" Misty said, a little too happily, and pulled Dawn into the living room with her. May had gone off somewhere else and Misty obviously didn't want to sing alone. Dawn tried her best to get away, but Misty wouldn't let her. Eventually, she gave in, and pretended to sing alone as Lyra and Barry laughed at them.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Paul was busy getting Ash drunk. May had come into the room and was drunkly telling Paul off for it. Ritchie sat up on the floor and laughed at the two arguing.

"Okay Misty, I'm not singing anymore." They heard Dawn raise her voice a little at Misty. Dawn wouldn't drink anything, since she was the only sensible one there. All the others, except from Ash, had been expecting this. Dawn had not. She hated it, and she was about to tell Ash he had to stop.

She stopped at the door but didn't look in. Paul pushed past her roughly and headed up the stairs to go to his guest room, which he was sharing with Ritchie now, since they'd followed each other in there and decided it was where they were staying.

Dawn glanced back at Paul briefly then turned her head to look in the door.

Instantly, she froze, and her heart shattered. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her. She had turned to look in, and had saw, Ash kissing May.

* * *

**So how's Dawn going to react to that!?**

**There's going to be a new poll up on my profile when I get time to put it up, but until next time,**

**Ninja.**


	6. Desire

**Hello again, fellow Pearlshippers!**

**First of all I want to reply to some reviews:**

**About Paul being OOC- I know he is, a little. That's because I have him changing his attitude as he travels with Ash and starts to understand that he can be nice to people too. :D**

**About the chapter being weird- Yeah, I know it was. It was supposed to be. It was about them doing something they'd never done before, and it was kind of to show they were not children anymore, like in the anime.**

**Ikarishipping hate- Yes, yes. I hate Ikarishipping too. See if you can spot the line that shows that there will be no more Ikarishipping in this.**

**Shippings in this chapter:**

**Slight advanceshipping, slight outcryshipping, and a SHIT LOAD OF PEARLSHIPPING!**

**There's a part of this that I hope I got right, but I'm not sure.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Dawn's eyes fluttered open slowly. _Where am I?_

She sat up and rubbed her head. She remembered now, she was in May's house. She looked to her left, where Ash was sleeping, facing away from her. To her right lay Misty, who had randomly decided to take the third bed. Dawn couldn't really remember what had happened the night before.

She slipped out of the bed and headed for the door. She turned the doorknob slowly, making sure she didn't wake either of the two up.

When she finally descended the stairs, she saw no mess. She was sure they had made a lot of mess the night before, so someone must have cleaned it up.

"Hello?" She called sleepily and rubbed her eyes.

"Morning, Dawn." Brock appeared by the door. "Want some breakfast?"

"Oh, morning Brock! And yes, I'd love some." She answered and followed him into the kitchen. Ritchie and Paul sat at the table, glaring at each other. Paul kept his usual 'I-don't-give-a-shit' face on as she entered.

"Is Ash still in bed? Lazy ass." Paul didn't wait for an answer. He stood up and left the room, without thanking Brock for his breakfast.

"As cranky as ever." Brock muttered as he set down some breakfast for Dawn. "Why are you even travelling with him?"

"I don't know, I just wanted someone to travel with. That was before I met Ash again, of course. He is an asshole, but he's bearable." Dawn answered him. "I thought he and Ash had become friends at the end of the Sinnoh League but they still kind of despise each other."

"I think Paul hates everyone, I wouldn't worry about it." Brock shrugged and started to clean up some more. Dawn had already figured out that he was the one that had cleared all of the mess up. Everyone else was still in bed, except for Ritchie and Paul, and Dawn doubted they would help.

"Dawn, could you go wake up everyone else once you're done?" Brock asked her politely.

"Sure thing." Dawn quickly finished off her breakfast, and hurried upstairs to wake everyone else up. She went into Barry's room first, which he was sharing with Gary. The two had become close friends overnight, purely because they thought it was hilarious that their names rhymed. Dawn tapped Barry's shoulder, but got no answer.

"Barry! Get up!" She shouted, and he jumped up.

"Whoa!? Ah, Dawn, I'm fining you for that! Ow, my leg hurts!"

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Hey Dee Dee." Gary said and yawned. He'd learned the nickname last night from Kenny, who had been calling Dawn it, much to her annoyance.

"Morning Gary." Dawn ignored the stupid nickname. She turned and left the room as quickly as she could. The room opposite Barry's was now empty. Most people were waking themselves up.

Dawn descended the stairs again and strode into the kitchen. Now Brock was making breakfast for a tired looking Lyra, Misty, Harley and Solidad. They all glanced up as she entered, realized it was just her, and went back to their food.

Behind her, Barry suddenly burst into the room. "Ah man! I got some wicked pictures of last night!"

"Let us see then." Lyra said, gesturing for him to go over. He did as she asked and walked over. Everyone crowded around his camera to see, even Dawn.

Most of them were blurred, and there were quite a few pictures of Misty singing, which she cringed at. None of them really interested Dawn, so she was going to turn and leave, until Barry flicked onto the next one...

"Oh yeah, and this was when Ash finally kissed a girl!" Barry laughed, but no one else laughed with him. Dawn whipped her head around to see what he was talking about, and suddenly she felt sick. She remembered now why she'd rushed up the stairs to bed without saying a thing to anyone. It was because he'd caught him kissing May. So now it was pretty obvious that May liked him, and maybe she would be his girlfriend now.

Dawn wanted to cry.

"She's lucky." Lyra eyed the picture, clearly annoyed. Nobody noticed Dawn tear up, because she hid it well.

Harley walked off into the living room, since he couldn't care less. Dawn followed after him slowly, trying not to cry. She felt so much pain, all for Ash...

She stopped at the door and slowly lifted her head to meet Ash's gaze from the sofa. He looked up at her for a little while, unaware of her upset, then turned back to the TV. May was nowhere to be seen yet.

Dawn took a seat next to Harley and sat watching the television in silence until May came plodding down the stairs, and walked into the room. Dawn glared up at her as she looked down at Ash, and blushed. He looked... upset.

"Ash, may I talk to you for a moment?" She asked. Ash hesitated for a moment, but nodded eventually and stood to walk by her side out of the room. Dawn wanted to go and spy on their conversation, but knew that was wrong. So instead she brought her knees up and sobbed onto her dress. Harley decided to ignore her.

Meanwhile, May took Ash outside into the warm morning sun, and sat opposite him on the grass.

"Ash, you remember what happened last night, don't you?" She started nervously and started to twirl pieces of grass around her fingers.

"Yeah..."

"Ash, I... I mean... do you..."

Ash dropped his gaze. Now that he understood love, and was getting involved in it, he wished he wasn't. It was only causing his pain.

"May... I hate myself for this..."

"For what?"

"When we first started travelling together... I had feelings for you, May. I didn't know exactly what they were but I still had them." He could feel May's eyes watching his every movement, and she seemed to be cheering up slightly... "But... now... You waited too long May, I don't feel it anymore. Well, to be honest, I do... It's just, not for you anymore..."

"N-no way... It's Dawn... isn't it?" She said, grabbing a fistful of the grass. He could see tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.

"...Yeah... I'm sorry, May."

"... It's alright." She said, wiping her eyes with her wrists. She sniffed and looked up at him, forcing a smile. "Dawn's lucky, and she's amazing. Whatever makes you happy..."

"Thanks, May, but I don't think I'll ever have the courage to tell Dawn..."

"Just do it, Ash. It took me a lot to tell you, last night, even if you don't remember it."

"Alright May, I'll tell her." Ash said and sighed. What if he told her, and she just thought he was crazy?

"Okay." May said, and stood up. She held her hand out for Ash, and he took it. They walked into her house again, and she dropped his hand. Both Harley and Dawn had left the living room, and where nowhere to be seen.

"Dawn?" Ash called out, but not too loudly. Dawn heard from her position in the corner of the kitchen, and was about to wipe her eyes and answer, until she heard him making conversation with someone else.

"So Ash, are you and May a thing now?" It was Brock, asking him the thing that Dawn so desperately wanted to know the answer to. She held her breath and listened.

"No. I told her that I don't like her anymore, because I don't." Ash answered. Dawn felt her heart lift again, and she stopped crying. He didn't like her anymore... She stood and rubbed her eyes dry. She was going to answer Ash now, and later on, she would tell him.

"I'm here, Ash." She stepped into the corridor to meet him. Brock slipped back into the kitchen, where he seemed to be spending most of his time.

"Hey Dawn- Hey, have you been crying?" He asked her, putting his hand on her arm.

"Nah, I just got something in my eye, it hurt pretty bad." Dawn lied. To her surprise, Ash pulled her in for a hug. She accepted it happily, and pressed herself against him. She was so glad he wasn't with May...

"Dawn, I need to tell you something..." Ash started nervously. She couldn't guess what it was, despite it being painfully obvious.

"Okay Ash, go ahead." She smiled warmly at him.

"Well, I don't know how to say this but-"

"Ash! Come here now!" He stopped when he heard Misty's demanding voice call him from upstairs. He smiled sheepishly at Dawn.

"Uh, I'll tell you later." He promised her, and rushed up to see what Misty wanted.

"Ash, we're going now." Misty said, and looked around at Brock, Ritchie, Gary and Tracey, who were already packed and ready to leave.

"Already?"

"Yeah, apparently May wants to get on with travelling. I think we had enough partying last night, anyway..."

"Oh, alright then. See you some other time, Brock, Ritchie, Gary, Tracey... Misty..." He pulled her in for a quick hug, which pleased her. The others said their goodbyes too, and all headed out of the bedroom door.

When Ash entered his own room again, Dawn was already packing, along with Paul, who was as silent and bored looking as ever.

"I already heard about what May said. I kind of want to get back to Unova anyway."

"Me too." Ash nodded, and began to pack his stuff too. "Paul hasn't even got a single gym badge yet."

Paul snorted and got on with his packing.

"Guys!"

Ash turned, along with Dawn, to see May burst into the room. "I just had an amazing idea!"

"What kind of idea?" Ash asked her.

"Well, I thought about it a lot. I... Can't travel with Drew anymore, due to... circumstances, so I was wondering, could I perhaps... Come to Unova with you?"

"You mean, travel with us?" Ash's eyes widened a little. "May, I would love that!"

Now that Dawn knew that Ash didn't love May, she also loved the idea. Even Paul liked the idea a little. May travelling with them in Unova...

"Really?" She asked, her voice getting higher with excitement. "Wow! Let me go pack then!" She grinned and ran off back to her room. Ash glanced happily at Dawn before returning to his packing. As he packed his bag, he came across the Terracotta Ribbon, and stared at it for a few moments.

_Sorry, May._

"You ready, Ash?" Dawn asked him, and he came out of his daydream.

"Yeah, let's go." He said, nodding at Paul. The three left the room, met up with an excited May by the door, and headed for the ferries.

May had decided to let Ash and Dawn share a room again, so that Ash could confess to Dawn. That meant she had to share a room with Paul, and she didn't know how that would turn out. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too much of a jerk.

She shrugged to herself and went back to eating her ice cream. It was 7pm, but still warm outside. Ash and Dawn sat by the pool, dipping their feet in, and Paul sat at a table, slowly eating his own ice cream, that May had persuaded him to buy. She hadn't known him for very long at all, but she felt as if she'd get along with him fine.

She heard Dawn laugh at something Ash had said, and noticed how happy she was. Perhaps she really did love Ash back, and that meant she was probably upset when May kissed Ash. May hung her head in guilt for a moment. She had almost gotten between their relationship, and she would have hated herself for that. Anyway, she was happy now, so it was all good.

"Hey May." She heard Ash call, just loud enough for her to hear. She turned to face him, letting him know that he had her attention.

"Don't you want to come over?" He asked her, looking slightly concerned. May had been leaning against the railings, just looking at the ocean, for over an hour.

"I'm okay, Ash. I'm going to bed soon anyway, I'm tired." She said, and she wasn't lying. May was exhausted after staying up late at her party. "What're you going to do, Paul?"

Paul looked up at her for a moment, then looked back down without saying a word to her. She shrugged, showing that he wasn't getting to her.

"Alright then."

May finished her cone and pushed herself away from the railings.

"Goodnight Ash, Dawn, I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled and headed to her cabin. She opened the door and slid in, before collapsing on her bed. She took one look at a photo she had of her and Ash, and thought about how painful it was going to be, seeing Ash and Dawn together, if they got together. However, she was going to be strong and get over it.

She turned onto her side once, and quickly fell asleep. She stayed asleep the whole time Ash, Dawn and Paul were outside.

Eventually Paul decided he was going to go to bed, and stood without saying goodnight to Dawn or Ash. He really wasn't in the mood. He dragged his feet along as he walked to his room, opened the door as quietly as he could, and shut it again. May was asleep, facing the wall, and breathing lightly. He stared at her for a moment, but tore his eyes away from her. _She's alright, I suppose..._

He sighed and got himself ready to sleep, as he heard Ash and Dawn's door open and close too. He too knew that Dawn was going to tell Paul. Little did he know, Ash liked her back, and Paul had no chance of ever getting Dawn, and he was starting to care less anyway...

Dawn took her beanie hat off, then her clips, and shook her head to let her hair free. Ash watched her as she did this, and noticed something.

"Wow Dawn." He said, as he took his jacket off.

"Hmm?"

"You never used to let me see your hair unless it was perfect." He chuckled. She blinked a few times, and realized he was right. Perhaps she just felt more confident now.

"Ah well, I don't really care anymore." She smiled and ruffled her hair up a bit, making it messier to show she really didn't care.

"Well I don't care either, you look nice either way." He said, without thinking, and blushed a little at his own comment. Dawn stayed facing away, because she was also blushing.

"Thanks, Ash."

She sat on the edge of her bed, confident that her blush had disappeared, and watched as Ash sat awkwardly on the edge of his too.

"Well... Goodnight Dawn." He said finally, and curled up on his bed. She stayed sitting on the edge of hers, and thought about what she'd told herself to do. She was supposed to be confessing to him... it sounded easier than it was. He would be asleep soon, and she would have lost her chance for the day.

"Ash..." She said suddenly, without thinking about what she was doing. She heard him stir and sit up again. It was as if he had been expecting her to say his name.

"C-can... I try something...?" She stuttered, and was suddenly nervous. She had never been so nervous in her entire life, not even when she participated in her first contest. She needed to try this though, to see how it felt, and how he reacted to it. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to pull it off herself.

"Like what?" Ash tilted his head to the side a little, showing her he had no idea what she was talking about, and wanted to do. She didn't know how he would react if she told him that she wanted to kiss him, very badly. So instead she stood up silently, walked over, and sat beside him on his bed. He stared blankly into her eyes, unaware of what she was thinking. She slowly shuffled herself closer to him, feeling more comfortable as she got closer to his warm body.

"Like this..." She said, and noticed how her heart pounded in her chest. Her heart was in her throat as she slowly raised her hands. She reached out slightly and put her hand on his cheek. He didn't tear his eyes away from her, just blinked as she stared up at him with a passion that he couldn't recognise just yet. Even though he didn't understand, he didn't resist, and let her smooth hands touch his cheeks. He noticed that she was shaking lightly. He thought she was shaking from nervousness, or tiredness, but really, she was shaking from passion and desire. She was glad she had the chance to feel this way for someone, even if he didn't like her back. After she raised her hands, she pulled all her courage together, and slowly began to lean in. Ash's heart suddenly began to beat faster against his chest as he realized what she was going to do. All the desire he'd felt for her, and all the days of wanting to kiss her came up in one, and by default, he also leaned in. Dawn felt the nervousness disappear and closed her eyes slowly. She continued to lean in, and her lips parted slightly. A few seconds passed, until she finally felt his warm lips brush against hers. She shook as she felt all the passion hit her at once, and extreme longing caused her to kiss more passionately. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck so that she could move closer to him, and press harder against his lips. Just a few seconds later, she felt him kiss back, just as passionately. She felt a rush of happiness as he wrapped his arms around her waist, hoping he was doing it right. He felt the exact same as her. He felt a desire to embrace her forever, and never let her go. They continued to hold each other, and Dawn brought her hand up to run it through his hair. Neither of them felt nervous any more. They just wanted to continue kissing forever.

After what seemed like years to them both, their lips parted. Dawn didn't move away however. She stayed with her forehead leaning against his. Her lips were curled into a happy smile, and his eyes were widened with shock at what he'd just felt. Both of them were breathing heavier than usual, since they had been kissing so passionately. More passionately than Ash had kissed May- a lot more. Now what should he do? He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her more than he'd ever loved anyone, but he couldn't find words.

"...Thank you, Ash." Dawn finally whispered, and slowly pulled away from him. He stayed sitting in the same position, watching her stand and walk back over to her bed with his still wide eyes. She couldn't find words either, so she just lay back on her bed.

Ash blinked a few times. She wanted to test that, so that meant there was a chance she liked him back. He felt happy, but at the same time, worried. She hadn't said anything. Did that mean she hadn't felt the way he did as they kissed?

He shook his head clear of the thoughts, and lay back on his bed too. As he fell asleep he thought of her, and dreamed about embracing her.

The next morning, Dawn woke first, and was still thinking about what she'd done the night before. She wasn't sure how Ash had felt about it, since he had just sat there staring at her afterwards. She was surprised that he was such a good kisser.

She rose and brushed her hair. She wanted to get ready quick before he woke up, but she still took her time doing her hair, and putting her beanie on. When she was ready, she padded out of her room, and knocked on May's door.

Just as she expected, May was already awake. She opened the door with a huge smile on her face. In the background, Dawn could see Paul shove a pillow over his head to block out the sun and noise. May opened the door and Dawn walked in.

"Morning, Dawn." May greeted as the two sat on her bed. She had noticed that Dawn was in a very good mood. "So... last night... did you tell him?" She guessed, as she had figured out that Dawn was planning on doing it.

Before Dawn answered, Paul took the pillow off of his head and began to listen. He didn't care so much anymore, but he still wanted to know what was going on.

"Not exactly..."

"Dawn!"

"...But I did kiss him." Dawn finished.

"...And?"

"I can safely say that it was the best thing I've ever experienced. I'll admit, I love him a lot. I don't know how he felt about it though. He kissed back, and he was a good kisser, but afterwards he didn't say a thing."

_I think I know how he felt about it... _May smirked to herself.

"Well, go tell him then. It's no good keeping it bottled up, Dawn." May encouraged her, and practically pushed her out of the door. "Honestly, it'll be fine, just tell him. Good luck!"

Dawn sighed as May shut the door again. She walked the tiny walk back to her own cabin and went back inside. Ash was awake now, and looking through his bag. He looked up as she walked in, and stared back at her as she continued walking to her bed. He was too scared to say anything to her.

Neither of them said anything, since both of them were so nervous. Eventually, Ash stood up, and began to walk towards the door.

"Wait..." Dawn stood up and met him in the middle of the room. Yet again, he felt his heart pounding against his chest. Just being close to her drove him crazy. He looked down at her, and she looked up with a determined expression. How was she supposed to say this...?

"I... I... Ash, I think I..." She struggled to say it. Ash froze as he realized what she was about to say. Just as she had felt the night before, he felt a wave of joy hit him. Did she really love him? He couldn't control the smile that was creeping up on his lips. Dawn noticed this, and thought that he was trying not to laugh at her. She blushed with embarrassment.

Dawn's eyebrows furrowed and she dropped her gaze."...It doesn't matte-"

Dawn was cut off. She was shocked, as she felt his lips crash against her own again. This time more understanding, and more passionate. He did the work this time, and pressed against her. She felt it again, and kissed back as well as she could. The kiss lasted almost as long as the last, until Ash pulled away from her again.

"Does this mean...?" Dawn stared up at him, feeling ecstatic.

"Dawn, I've been wanting to tell you this since you came to Unova... I just didn't know how to bring it up... But now I do. So Dawn, I love you. I love you more than anyone, ever."

Dawn had been so worried about how she was going to say it, and in the end, it was Ash that had said it. She was so happy, she could hardly contain herself. She felt so much love, she just had to express it.

"Ash, I love you too! I really, really love you." She said blissfully, and wrapped her arms around him as they embraced in a hug. "I want to be with you forever, Ash." She admitted, and she felt him hold her tighter.

"So Dawn..." Ash began when she finally pulled away. "Will you... be my..."

"Yes, Ash. I'll be your girlfriend." Dawn said and giggled at his blush. She pulled him in for another quick kiss before taking his hand and pulling him out of the cabin. Out on the deck, Paul was ignoring May. They both looked up as Ash and Dawn walked out onto the deck, holding hands. May's lips curled into a sad smile. She had told him, and now he was hers.

They took a seat opposite May and Paul.

"So... You two are together now?" May asked cheerfully.

"Yup!" Dawn answered, and rested her head against Ash's chest. He smiled down at her briefly, then looked back up at May.

"Congratulations." May said. She was genuinely happy for the two of them.

"We'll be arriving in Unova soon." Paul finally spoke. Everyone turned towards him.

"I can't wait to start travelling with you guys..." May said. The four of them sat and talked, mostly joyfully, as the ferry slowly made its way to the sores of Unova once more.

* * *

**Aaaand, there you go! Ash and Dawn are finally together!**

***took me long enough***

**Anyway, this is not the end of the story! It is far from over! **

**Also you can still vote on the poll, but there's no point in voting against May not travelling in Unova at all. She's already there now, and it was heavily out-voted. Currently, it looks like I'm going to be shipping her with a certain purple haired badass we know. Get voting! :D**

******Also, don't forget; Please leave a review so I know that I'm doing okay! (or not...)**

**Until next time,**

**Ninja.**


	7. She couldn't make her mind up

**Shippings in this chapter:**

**Pearlshipping**

**Outcryshipping**

**Towards the end, we see Relic Castle come back into the story, in a way. I had been planning on doing this since I wrote that part out but I'm not sure whether it really works or not. Oh well, I hope it's okay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Dawn studied how May and Paul were acting around each other, for the third time in the last hour. Ash had gone off somewhere else for a while, still trying to get over the fact that Dawn liked him back, and that they were together now. Dawn was now leaning against the railings, watching the other two sitting at the table. May had been showing Paul the ribbons that she had won in Hoenn when Ash had been travelling with her, and explaining about how she wasn't very good with Pokemon at all when she began her journey. Surprisingly, Paul looked interested, and sat and listened to her. Occasionally, she would glance away, as if she was nervous. But, then again, Paul's glare did tend to do that to people.

As they got closer and closer to Unova, May started to run out of things to say. She looked uneasy as Paul didn't say much. Dawn was about to go over and talk to her, when Paul started talking about his own journeys. Dawn stopped in her tracks and blinked a few times. Paul was actually making conversation with her? Maybe something good could come of this...

Dawn smirked to herself before wandering off to find Ash, so that she could spend more time with her favourite person in the world.

Just over an hour later, they arrived in Unova. May had calmed down a little, and now looked content in a way. She had enjoyed spending time with Paul, and Dawn could tell. She smiled in an almost tired way as Dawn helped her off the boat. Ash petted Pikachu lightly, before letting him run off ahead. They were all in a good mood.

Dawn swung her hair around, and pushed it behind her shoulders. Today would be a good day. She glanced over at Ash. He was standing, looking out over Castelia City. She smiled, and lowered her head. May placed her hands on her hips, and walked over to her side.

"It's really big... and beautiful..." She marvelled, inspecting every building, sign, and road. She let her eyes wander over Castelia's landscape. She couldn't wait to start contests in Unova...

"I think it's the biggest city in Unova." Dawn replied, and tilted her head to the side slightly. "I wonder..."

"Everything okay?" May turned her head to face Dawn, and raised her eyes in concern. Dawn looked up again and smiled widely.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about something." She insisted, and looked back up at Ash. He was looking back at her now, his expression giving away nothing. Paul had the same blank look, and Dawn assumed that they wanted to set off. She smiled sheepishly and hurried over to Ash's side. Since they were together now, May didn't want to get in their way, so she hung behind with Paul, and said nothing.

They walked down one of Castelia's main streets, towards the Pokemon centre. May studied the buildings again, taking in every part of the marvellous city. She had always loved travelling, and seeing new places. This was one of the best cities she'd ever seen. As she looked from building to building, she forgot to think about what she was doing. She slowly, without realizing it, reached out and took Paul's hand.

His head whipped to the side quickly, and he looked down at her hand, which was now curled around his. His eyes widened and he looked up at her. She didn't seem to notice him, as she gawked at the city still. He didn't know what to do now, he only felt awkward. Paul was not comfortable with her hand around his, because she was going to realize what she'd done at some time, and he didn't know how to respond. Should he hold her hand? He really didn't want to...

May snapped out of her daydream quickly when Dawn said something that made Ash crack up. His laughter woke her, and she realized abruptly that she had her hand around Paul's. She pulled it away violently, and raised her eyes to meet his gaze. He was looking down at her with his usual expression; blank. She knew that she was blushing, so she turned away from him with embarrassment. Of course, Paul didn't blush at all. He merely put his hands into his pockets, so that she couldn't do it again.

They reached the Pokemon centre, and decided to stay there overnight. It was around noon, and they could think of nothing to do, other than training, or going to the gym. Paul decided that he wanted to go the next day, and Ash agreed with this. Neither of them were ready, or could be bothered, after the long boat trip.

Later, when the sun had descended, and the moon was out, they rested within their shared room. Ash and Dawn were still a bit unsure about how to interact with each other, so they sat quietly for a while, until Dawn leaned in and started to kiss him. He didn't object, and they just sat kissing for a long while. May wasn't bothered, and went to her bed to read a magazine. Paul had gone off to train a while ago, and hadn't yet returned. May had been thinking a lot about him, even though she'd only known him for a few days.

The problem with May was that she couldn't make her mind up. At first, she had thought she loved Drew. The feelings she had, however, were not love. She merely felt a connection with him. When she tried to tell him how she felt, there had been that incident, and she'd gotten over him. She then realized that she missed Ash a lot, and she needed to know how she felt, so she invited him over. She felt the same way for him as she had for Drew, so she had tried to tell him. He had ended up loving Dawn... and now she was getting these feelings for Paul. She didn't want them, like she'd wanted the others. She loved Ash with all her heart as a friend, and he'd always been there for her. She had travelled with Drew for a long time, and felt as if she really understood him. Paul, however, was just someone she'd met. He hadn't even been that nice to her. So why was she feelings these things again, and even felt as if they were stronger?

She sighed and glanced over at Ash and Dawn. Dawn had stopped kissing him, for now, and was resting her head against his shoulder now. He had fallen asleep. She sighed once more. Why couldn't she have such a perfect relationship? She didn't want to date Paul, the thought of it made her upset. He seemed alright, but she already knew he had a nasty side. She didn't want to love anyone like that.

"What'cha thinking about, May?" Dawn asked, as she lay Ash down on his bed. She pulled the covers over him, and crossed the room to sit by May.

"Nothing, just reading." May smiled up at Dawn. Her blunette friend was about to answer, when the door swung open, and Paul walked in. He looked the same as usual, with his hands in his pockets, and his feet dragging. He glanced over at the two girls for a moment, and May turned bright red. He noticed this, assumed she was just having a 'girly' moment, and ignored her. He took his jacket off, hung it against the closest thing to him, and climbed up the bunk he was sharing with May. She watched him until she could no longer see him, and sighed. Dawn's face twisted. She had a faint idea about what was going on, and she didn't like it. That kind of relationship... It hardly ever went well. She didn't want to see May heartbroken.

But of course, it was her choice, and Dawn couldn't do a thing about it.

"Okay, night May." Dawn said and smiled weakly. She walked over and climbed up her own bunk, trying not to wake Ash. May didn't want to think about Paul anymore, so she curled up on her bed, and hugged her knees until she found sleep.

Paul woke first the next day, and climbed down. He didn't bother being quiet, but May didn't wake anyway. He, obviously, was completely oblivious to her feelings. He had been feeling a little bit of something, but he certainly didn't care, yet. All he wanted to do was collect Unova's badges, so that he could compete in the league, and beat Ash. He could beat Ash as many times as he wanted, and not feel fulfilled. Ash had beaten Paul at the Sinnoh league, so Paul would need to beat Ash at the Unova league. He was pretty confident that he would.

He looked over at May once more and allowed himself to think about her for a brief second_._ He decided that this was too boring, and turned away.

"What's up Paul?" Dawn asked suddenly, from her top bunk She climbed down a couple of the steps, then jumped silently down onto the floor. She paced over and stood beside Paul. "Getting feelings for May?"

"No." Paul shook his head, with no doubts in his head. "Why would I have feelings for her?"

Dawn raised and eyebrow and shook her own head. "Paul, do you even know how to feel emotions? It sometimes seems like you only feel anger and boredom."

"Does it matter?" Paul scoffed, and took a seat. Dawn stayed standing, and looked over at May.

"Tell me one thing that you like about May." Dawn ordered, and Paul blinked a few times. What was she trying to do?

"What?"

"You heard me. Tell me one thing that you like about May, it's not hard or anything."

"Well... Uh..." Paul struggled to answer, since he was so terrible at complimenting people. "She... has nice eyes?"

"Yeah! We're getting somewhere!" Dawn said, and grinned.

"We're what? Go away, Dawn." Paul closed his eyes and turned away. Dawn sighed, he was harder to get through to than she had expected. Despite their current relationship, she thought that May and Paul would make a great couple. She wouldn't force it on them though, she would merely suggest it with clues.

As soon as Ash and May were awake, the group could set off. May had stopped thinking about Paul, and her thoughts turned to the contests she would be competing in. As they stepped out onto the streets of Castelia, Ash and Paul branched off, so Dawn could walk with May. Dawn waited until Ash and Paul were quite far ahead, before she turned to May.

"You know this morning? When you were sleeping, Paul said your eyes were pretty." Dawn whispered to her, with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"He did?" May asked. Dawn looked for a hint of a blush on her face, but couldn't find any. May just looked a little surprised. "That's sweet of him." She smiled.

"Yeah, it is..." Dawn trailed off. She had been sure that May was starting to like Paul, but perhaps she was wrong. _Oh well._

"So, where are we going first?" May asked. She clasped her hands together behind her back and looked to the sky as she walked. Dawn copied her for a moment, but looked back down to answer her.

"To the gym. Paul needs to get his gym badge." She answered. Paul didn't even acknowledge them, he just kept walking on.

"But... What have you been doing lately? Haven't you already gotten this gyms badge? You've been here long enough." May spoke to Paul, but knew that he wouldn't answer, and turned to Dawn.

"Yeah... We got a bit sidetracked. Ended up doing things we didn't really want to."

"I see..."

When they reached the gym, Paul challenged Burgh almost immediately. He was eager to get the badge, and as he said, he 'just wanted to get out.'

Dawn, May and Ash went up to the standing area to watch the battle take place. Dawn and Ash, having already seen Paul battle many times, were not too interested. They watched him, but also chatted amongst themselves. May, however, could not tear her eyes away from his battle, and Dawn noticed this.

"Go, Torterra." Paul called out his first pokemon, and waited for Burgh to choose. A frown appeared on Burgh's lips. Why would Paul choose a grass type pokemon? May also wondered this, but kept it to herself.

"Go, Leavanny." Burgh also called, and placed his hands on his hips. "I'll let you have the first attack, Paul."

_That thing looks weak... _"Torterra, use frenzy plant." Paul called, sounding bored. Instantly, the giant continent pokemon began to glow.

"Frenzy plant?" Burgh was caught off guard by the strong move. "Leavanny, get out of there!" He called. Leavanny jumped up to avoid it, but the roots erupted from the ground and slammed into Leavanny's body, knocking it from the sky and into a nearby wall. May's eyes widened... She'd never seen that move before.

"Leavanny, get up!" Burgh called, and his pokemon stirred. Slowly, it rose up, and staggered back over to the battlefield. "Alright, use aerial ace!"

Leavanny shot forward with amazing speed, and hit Torterra on its face. It was clear that he had taken some damage, but Torterra didn't move, until Leavanny was vulnerable in front of him.

"Crunch." Paul commanded, and Torterra brought its jaws down on Leavanny's smaller body. Leavanny fell to the ground, and it became apparent that it was fainted, and could not battle.

"Leavanny is unable to battle, Torterra wins." The referee announced, and held up his green and red flags to show. May was astonished by the power of Paul's pokemon, and how well he was doing against Burgh.

"Go, Heracross!" Burgh called out his second pokemon first. Paul smirked at the sight of Heracross, and pulled a pokeball from his belt.

"Go, Magmortar." He tossed the ball, and the magma pokemon appeared. From the stands, May could feel the heat radiating from its body, showing how hot it was.

"Heracross, shadow claw!" Burgh commanded, and Heracross shot forward quickly. The claw slashed across Magmortar's body, and knocked it back slightly.

"Flamethrower." Magmortar shot flames from its mouth. Heracross quickly dodged, so Magmortar shot another.

_Magmortar just has to stand in the same place, whereas Heracross is using energy by jumping around like that... It has to get tired eventually. _Paul smirked.

"Keep using Flamethrower."

Now Magmortar was just standing, shooting Flamethrowers in all directions. Heracross jumped swiftly across the battlefield, not showing any signs of tiredness. May watched in awe at Paul's battling skill. She knew that Ash and Paul had battled at the Sinnoh League, but she didn't know who won. She guessed that it was Paul.

Eventually, Heracross became slower, and Magmortar hit it. The Flamethrower engulfed its body and burned it, leaving it fainted on the ground. Magmortar had only taken a tiny amount of damage.

"Okay, Paul." Burgh said as he returned his fainted Heracross. "There's no point in battling you any longer, when I know I'm going to lose." Burgh admitted, and looked down at his pokeball. Paul stuck his hands in his pockets and walked over, not even surprised that Burgh had given up.

"Here's your badge Paul, you're a great battler." Burgh handed Paul the badge, and nodded. Paul put it into his badge case and turned away.

"Thanks." He said once before walking away. Dawn and Ash started to walk down to meet him. May ran ahead, excited for some reason, and happy. She ran down the stairs and twirled around the bottom, almost bumping into Paul. She looked up at him with a big smile on her face.

"You need something?" He asked her, and suddenly her smile disappeared, and was replaced by a frown and blush.

"Uh..."

"Great battle, Paul, Burgh had no chance." Ash laughed as he came down the stairs. Paul looked up at him and smirked.

"I bet you had a hard time."

Ash snorted and rolled his eyes, making Paul chuckle a little, something that neither May nor Dawn had seen before.

"Paul..." May started randomly, making everyone turn to her. "I would really like to... I would really like it we could..."

Dawn's eyes widened. Was she going to ask him out? Ash raised an eyebrow, what was going on here?

"I mean, I really want to battle with you!" May called, and Dawn face-palmed. Maybe next time.

"Me, battle against a weak co-ordinator? That would be a waste of my time." Paul scoffed and stuck his hands in his pockets and started walking. May was taken aback, and almost gave up, until she spotted the wink that Ash gave her.

"Actually, I bet I would beat you." She shouted to him, and he stopped. He turned around to face her, and his lips curled into an almost sinister smile.

"Fine."

"Right now." May demanded, and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Right now, then." Paul shrugged, and walked outside.

May, Ash and Dawn followed him until they reached a patch of grass that no one bothered with.

"Here?" Paul asked her, and she shrugged.

"Sure. You go first."

"Right, go, Torterra." Paul called his continent Pokemon out for the second time that day. He was almost interested in this battle. "I'm half expecting a Bidoof." Paul smirked, and May could feel the anger building up.

"A Bidoof, huh?" May also smirked, and Paul frowned. "Go, Blaziken." May threw her pokeball, and the tall pokemon appeared. It looked down on Torterra and raised one of its eyebrows in a way that almost said 'you have no chance.'

Paul raised his eyebrows, he certainly wasn't expecting that. Blaziken was tall, fast, and super effective against Torterra. However Paul still knew he would win.

"Frenzy plant, Torterra." He ordered, and the roots shot up almost immediately.

"Dodge it!" May called, and Blaziken launched itself into the air with it's giant legs. "Blaze kick!"

Before Torterra could move, Blaziken shot down, and kicked Torterra, pushing it back, and damaging it a lot.

"Quick, grab Blaziken's leg!" Paul ordered, and Torterra's jaws clamped down on Blaziken's leg. Blaziken cried out in pain, and tried to pull itself free.

"Giga Drain." Paul commanded, and Torterra began to drain energy from Blaziken. Even though it wasn't very effective, it damaged Blaziken a lot.

"Blaziken, use Overheat!" May shouted. Blaziken managed to pull itself together and shoot flames at Torterra's head. Torterra cried out, and let go of Blaziken's leg. Blaziken jumped backwards, and shot a Flamethrower at Torterra without being commanded. Now it stood in front of May again, ready to be ordered, while Torterra still recovered.

Paul looked up at her in anger. She wasn't supposed to be winning. "Leaf Storm!" He shouted angrily, and Torterra shot the tornado of leaves towards Blaziken. They cut at Blaziken, and it brought its arm up to protect itself.

"Use Fire Spin to destroy the leaves." May said, and Blaziken covered itself with a flame that killed all of the leaves around it. Both Blaziken and Torterra were badly damaged by the strong moves they'd hit each other with. Blaziken knelt and stared at the panting Torterra for a moment.

"Flamethrower!"

"Hyper Beam!"

They both called their attacks at the same time. Blaziken shot its Flamethrower, as Torterra launched a mighty Hyper Beam. The two attacks collided with each other in the sky, causing an explosion. Everything was covered with smoke, and Paul could hear May coughing. He almost wanted to ask her if she was okay.

When the smoke cleared, Torterra and Blaziken were both still standing. However both of them were wincing with pain, and it was clear that one of them was going to collapse. They stared each other down. May was determined to win. She wanted to show Paul that he wasn't as good as he thought he was, and that she wasn't weak. Also, she wanted to impress him...

Suddenly, Blaziken let out a small noise and fell onto its knees. Paul looked up at May's face, and saw the sadness appear in her eyes. They became almost glassy, and she bit her lip sadly. He was about to say something sarcastic, until something happened.

Blaziken began to glow. It glowed orange and red, bursting with colour and energy. It twitched a bit, before looking up at Paul, and revealed its blood red eyes.

"Overheat!" May called quickly, while Paul still tried to figure out what was going on. Before it could move, Torterra was covered with an unnaturally large flame. It was the strongest Overheat Paul had ever seen, and if he hadn't stepped back, he would have been burned too.

When Torterra was visible again, it was clear that he was fainted, and couldn't battle. Paul blinked a few times and tried to register what had just happened to him. She had won him?

Blaziken's eyes cleared, and he staggered with fatigue. When Blaze had activated, it was because he had felt May's sadness, and determination, and... something else. But what was that thing she was feeling?

"Good job, Blaziken!" May congratulated him, gave him a quick hug, then returned him. She looked up at Paul returning his Torterra. He glanced over at her. Instead of looking angry, or sad, he had an unknown expression on his face, and he looked away from her quickly. She smiled sadly and looked over to Ash and Dawn, who were smiling at her.

"Let's go to the Pokemon Centre, shall we?" Dawn said, and Ash nodded. Paul stayed silent as they walked back to the centre. Dawn watched him the whole way, and noticed when he started thinking about something, and he smiled slyly down to the floor. Yes, something was going on in that head of his.

Later that night, Ash and Dawn were sitting on the edge of his bed, talking. May sat alone on the balcony, thinking about her contests, and of course, Paul.

"Hey." She said as someone stepped onto the balcony, thinking it was Dawn.

"Uh... hey." She heard someone say quietly. She looked up to see Paul standing over her, and blushed.

"You know, you're not a bad battler." Paul smirked as he sat down beside her.

Hearing that compliment from him stirred May's feelings right up. She could feel something she had never felt before, and it flared up. She felt so passionate about something, but it couldn't be Paul... could it?

"Thanks... You're not either." She smiled weakly, looked up at him, then back down to the ground with a frown.

_Ugh May, you're so stupid... How could you?_

"Uh... are you alright?" Paul asked, not sounding too concerned, as he noticed her looking upset.

"Y-yeah... I am..." She lied.

"You're a bad liar." Paul sighed, and sat back on his chair.

_What're you doing out here, speaking to me? This isn't like you..._

May stayed silent and stared out across Castelia City. _Actually... Liking Paul isn't that bad... You could just tell him... Maybe he'll like you back... Nah, don't be stupid, Paul doesn't like anybody._

Meanwhile, Paul was thinking too. _It might be nice to have someone to talk to about this shit... She's not that bad either..._

"Do you like Ash?" Paul asked. The question caught May off guard, and she looked at him with surprise.

"Ash? I... Thought I liked him but no, it wasn't that kind of like." She answered him honestly, still unsure why he asked her it.

Paul nodded. "Yeah, I had the same problem. I thought I liked Dawn that way, but I'm pretty solitary, so I didn't really, and I didn't talk to anybody about it."

May was even more surprised. She never expected Paul to like anyone, even a little bit. He seemed like the kind of person that would want to be alone, maybe even forever.

"When did you realize that you didn't like her?" She asked. She imagined him saying 'When I met you', and thought about how happy that would make her. Somehow, she was falling rapidly in love with him, and she couldn't control it.

"Pretty recently." He answered, and she frowned. "Ever been in love with someone?"

"Yeah." May said. "Only once. You?"

"I don't know yet."

Then both of them sat silently.

"I get the feeling I'm going to be in love with that person for a long time though."

Paul was about to reply, when they were cut off by the sound of Dawn screaming. Knowing only Ash was in there with her, May jumped up and scrambled into the room. Ash was holding her shoulders as she screamed, covering her ears.

"What's going on? What's happening to her?" May asked him with a demanding tone.

"I don't know, she was just lying there, and she started screaming." Ash said, and shook Dawn.

"Dawn, what's wrong?!" He called to her, and she stopped screaming.

"...Dawn?" May stepped forward, and Dawn's head shot up.

"Keep away from me." Dawn ordered, except it wasn't Dawn's voice...

"What the fuck?"

"This is the girl that violated my castle, is it not?" Dawn spoke, and looked down at herself. "Yes, I believe it is. Excellent."

"Violated your castle?" Ash asked, then turned to Paul quickly. "Relic Castle!"

"Shit."

"What's going on?!" May demanded. Dawn looked at Ash angrily. He was standing close to her, and had obviously just been touching her. She reached out and pushed Ash onto the floor, making May gasp and Paul step back. She seemed more powerful than before.

"If I knew, I would tell you!" Paul shouted back to her, as Ash rubbed his head painfully. Dawn turned and knelt beside him, making him freeze. It became apparent that he was scared of her hurting him again.

"To be alive again... To be able to touch a boys flesh..." Dawn reached out and touched Ash's cheek. He stayed frozen, not daring to move.

"That's not Dawn, she's possessed." May said, with fear in her eyes. Paul looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"People can't get possessed, there's no such thing." He said, matter-of-factly. She turned to look at him, and furrowed her eyebrows.

"How do you know? Are you telling me that that's Dawn?" She argued, not because she was angry, but because she was starting to get scared, and didn't know what to do.

"There's plenty of people here, so it does not matter who I am." Dawn started talking to herself, over May's arguing. Ash stood slowly and never took his eyes from Dawn. He knew she was going to do something, whether it was her or not.

And she did.

Dawn turned to walk out onto the balcony, passing May and Paul. Ash scampered up quicker to stop her.

May also followed Dawn onto the balcony, but didn't dare touch her. Dawn stopped and looked at the three behind her.

"I almost forgot how weak we are as humans. How about I show you, and get some revenge while I'm doing it?" Dawn spoke, not in her voice. The voice sounded older, and was lower than Dawn's.

'Dawn' smiled, almost lovingly, as she backed up and climbed up onto the railings of the balcony. She closed her eyes slowly as she balanced on the bar, far above the ground.

"Dawn, what're you doing?!" Ash shouted, and pushed past Paul. Dawn ignored him, and continued to balance dangerously on the bar. "Get down, Dawn!"

Ash reached out and grabbed her arm, just before she got the chance to jump. As she felt his hand wrap around her wrist, she looked back with hate, and hissed. She tugged violently, trying to get her wrist free, but he was stronger, and pulled her down off the balcony. She fell back into his arms, and hissed even more.

"Get off me!" She shouted, but Ash wrapped his arms around her waist with a determined expression, and held her tightly. Dawn was starting to scream viciously, until eventually, she stopped screaming altogether, and closed her eyes.

"You did it!" May shouted with glee, and Paul glanced at her happily for a second.

"Yeah... God, I was so scared there for a second." Ash laughed nervously. "Wait, what exactly was that? Dawn must have disturbed something in Relic Castle..."

"There's no such thing as possession." Paul persisted. "It's made up bullshit."

"Paul... We know there's such a thing as possession... Because we've witnessed it." May explained to him as Ash carried Dawn to her bed. Paul's eyes widened a little, and it was clear that he wanted May to explain what she was talking about.

"Back in Kanto, when we were at the Battle Frontier, we came across some ruins. Ash, being young and pretty stupid, ran inside and found some sort of stone pokeball. All I remember is him picking it up, and being covered in this horrible purple smoke... Then he just... Wasn't Ash. It looked like him, except he was glowing purple, and his voice was way deeper. Also... He had this evil grin... I thought we were going to lose him forever, it was that bad. He would of killed us if he had the chance."

Paul stood listening to May's story, surprised by it all. So, Ash had been possessed himself? Paul was sure there was no such thing, but it would explain Dawn's strange behaviour...

Paul was about to express how much shock he felt, when he noticed May's eyes flash for a second. He narrowed his eyes, and watched her eyes like a hawk. He didn't notice that she was just standing there, watching him.

"May, are you alright?" He asked her, and reached out to touch her arm. "May?"

"Don't touch me." May hissed, in the same voice Dawn had acquired before. Paul's heart skipped a beat, and he stepped back away from her.

"May...?"

May turned and ran out onto the balcony. "If I can't have one, I'll have the fucking other!" She shouted, and jumped up onto the railings. Paul felt as if he had stopped breathing, he froze, and ran. He ran out onto the balcony as quickly as he could, and shouted out to her.

"Give her back!"

He reached out, and tried to grab her arm, but May just watched him without sympathy as she let her left foot slip back, and fell from the balcony.

"May!" Ash shouted from the balcony door. Paul was frozen, halfway across the balcony. _That was my fault... I should of noticed, or ran quicker..._

Ash reached the front of the balcony, passing Paul. Paul had noticed the tears forming in the corners of his eyes as he stormed past him, his mouth wide, ready to shout her name again. However, once he reached the balcony, he stopped. He didn't say a word, just stood and looked around.

"What?" Paul asked, struggling to find his words. He blamed himself for this, and though he had never been a particularly caring, he felt something. He wasn't sure what it was though.

"...She's gone." Ash said, almost speechless. Paul rushed over and leaned over the railings. Ash was right. May was nowhere to be seen.

"You mean... She's alive?" Paul said, still looking for her. For a moment, he felt a wave of joy hit him, for the first time in a long while.

"She has to be..." Ash whispered. "Well, come on, we have to find her!" He said, and grabbed Paul's arm. He ran into the room, shook Dawn awake, grabbed his stuff, and shot out of the door.

"We're coming, May." He said to himself as a drowsy Dawn and dazed Paul struggled to keep up with him along the streets of Castelia.

* * *

**All will be explained in the next chapter, I promise!**

**So I promise there will be more Outcryshipping soon but at the minute it's more one-sided than anything else. May is getting love sick!**

**Until next time,**

**Ninja.**


	8. Drew

**So, May's been possessed.**

**And again, I'm getting reviews about Paul. If everyone votes for it, I will get rid of Paul from this story. **

**Shippings in this chapter:**

**Outcryshipping**

**Pearlshipping**

**AND A NEW SHIPPING!**

**(someone suggested a new character, if you don't like the character, tell me, because I don't have to keep them.)**

* * *

"Ash, how do we even know which way she went?" Dawn shouted to him, to get him to stop.

"Because there was a wall blocking the other road, and she didn't have enough time to cross it. She must have gone across Skyarrow Bridge, I'm sure of it. Trust me, okay Dawn?" He turned to face her. She nodded quickly. She was still confused about what was going on, and more tired than she'd ever felt, but stopping wasn't really an option at that point. They didn't want May to get too far away, since she wasn't herself, and may not even be alive.

"I sure hope she's okay..." Dawn spoke to herself, and let a few tears slide down her cheek. She noticed Paul watching her and smiled weakly at him. He continued to frown at her.

"Come on, let's go." Ash said, but stopped himself again almost immediately. "Paul."

"What?"

"May could be anywhere, going anywhere, going to do anything... We're going to be going in the wrong direction. I don't know how long we'll be, so I don't want you to come. You're already behind, you need to get your gym badges." Ash told him, and put his hands in his pockets, imitating Paul's famous move. Paul didn't know what to say. Something was telling him to go with them, to save her, but what was it? He looked down at the ground for a moment, to think, and hide his confused face.

When he looked back up, Ash and Dawn were walking away.

He was by himself again, but this time, he didn't want to be. He was getting used to travelling with other people, with company. Now he was going to be all by himself again, and for some strange reason, he was really missing the girl. He remembered when he first saw her, and thought about how pretty she was. Maybe it had something to do with that...?

He'd been standing around for long enough, and now he had to move. He started walking in the opposite direction, towards Nimbasa City, where he would challenge Elesa, the gym leader. Still, he felt that urge to go after the girl, and what if Ash was going the wrong way? Wouldn't it be better if he looked for her too?

Then, he decided. He was going to drop collecting gym badges for a while, and he was going to save the girl. Heck, he might even get something good from it. Maybe it would make him feel less empty.

He started walking down the empty street, the opposite way from where Dawn had gone. It couldn't take too long to find May anyway.

Eventually, May regained consciousness. She had been walking, not quite herself, for two hours now. She didn't know what she was doing, or where she was going, and all the confusion hit her at once. She staggered slightly and fell back lightly onto the sand. It was so hot, she could hardly breathe.

May felt no emotions. No pain, no sadness. She only felt the extreme thirst, due to travelling in the desert for two hours without drinking anything. She imagined herself drinking, kind of like a hallucination. She imagined the cool liquid running down her throat, and let it wrap around her like a comforting blanket. She curled up on her side, noticing that nobody was nearby, and fell into a deep sleep, that no one would wake her from. If she didn't drink or eat anything, she was going too dehydrate, but she was too confused and out of it that she didn't notice at all.

Paul had been walking down the desert for just over an hour and a half. He had been walking slightly slower than May, and had also stopped for a rest. Now he had to stop again, because a sand storm was kicking up, and he could hardly see anything. He sat on the sand, and sat with a bored expression on his face as people passed by him on the road. He didn't pay attention to anyone, except one boy that passed, that looked around the same age as him. The boy stared back down with an angry look on his face, even though Paul had done nothing wrong.

Paul decided that he should keep going again, since he wasn't doing no good just sitting there. So he stood, grabbed his bag, and followed the boy that had just passed him. The boy noticed this, raised an eyebrow, and walked faster. Paul couldn't have cared any less, and stayed at the same speed. The boy did slow down again when he was ahead, but they still weren't too far apart.

Paul was expecting it to take days, maybe even a week, but it didn't. It took him only two hours, and that was it.

He had been walking for another twenty minutes when he spotted her, curled up on the sand by the side of the road. A few people looked down at her, or poked her, but no one woke her up. Paul sighed when he saw the terrible condition she was in, and was about to run over to her.

But the other boy beat him to it.

The other boy ran over with great speed. Paul figured that he'd seen May and wanted to help. He slowed and watched how the other boy interacted with her. He ran over to her side, and lifted her torso up. He held her to him and studied her face. Then he tried shaking her to wake her up, but she stayed limp in his arms.

The boy realized what was wrong with her and pulled a bottle of water from his bag and held it to her mouth. He held her head back, and made sure she swallowed it. May coughed a little, but kept her eyes closed. She didn't want to open them in that heat.

Paul saw the boy open his mouth and say something to her. He started to speed up and walk over, then he saw May's eyes shoot open. She jumped up and staggered back, until she fell backwards onto the sand again. The boy stood and held up his arms, then stretched them out, telling her that he didn't mean any harm.

May almost broke into tears. She ran forward into his arms, and hugged him tight. She cried slightly onto his shirt as he stood still and looked down at her with a slightly shocked look.

Paul finally reached them, and she stepped away from the boy. She hadn't even noticed Paul, even though he stood right next to her. She stared up at the boy, and spoke in a low voice;

"Drew..."

_What the fuck?_

"Hey, May." Drew replied and laughed nervously. May's face was full of confusion and awe.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. Paul noticed that she was starting to sound less pleased, and her eyes were starting to narrow.

"I... I asked your brother where you went, since you disappeared from Johto." Drew answered her, then turned to Paul, whom May had not noticed yet. "Um, what do you want?"

May turned to Paul and noticed him for the first time. She jumped forwards and wrapped her arms around him. He didn't move, and just watched her rest her head against him. Drew watched her with a confused frown on his face.

"Where's Ash?" May asked, and Paul heard Drew choke a little.

"Ash? Is he who you're here with?" Drew asked, and Paul could hear the hate in his tone. Who was this kid anyway?

"Yes, he is. And this is Paul. Why did you follow me here?" She twirled back around to ask him.

"Because you disappeared, and I needed to tell you something." Drew began, and took hold of her hand. Paul scowled and rolled his eyes. He knew what was going to happen here.

"May, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done what I did. I was terrible for doing it, and I feel really bad. I forgot to tell you that I love you and I want to be with you." Drew spat out, and never looked away from her. She blinked a few times, but didn't look happy at all.

"Drew, I can't. I'm sorry, but I tried for you, and you threw it back in my face. I keep seeing that moment over and over again in my head, and every time it's more painful to see. I can't."

"Please, May." Drew pleaded. "I really love you, can't we try?"

"No, we can't, sorry Drew." May told him for the second time, and pulled her hand away. Drew immediately reached out and took it again. Paul raised an eyebrow at how desperate he was. Even though he had no idea what was going on, he could have had a pretty good guess.

"Don't Drew." May warned him, with anger becoming apparent in her voice.

"May-"

May pulled her hand away violently. She felt so much anger now that she didn't care what she did anymore. She twirled around quickly, before Drew could protest. She reached out, wrapped her arms around Paul's neck, and pulled him in violently. His eyes widened and he almost fell on top of her. He was about to say something, when he was stopped by the force of May's lips crashing against his. He didn't know what to do, he was completely clueless. He didn't know if he liked the feeling or not. May persisted with the kissing, and she pressed closer to him.

She didn't know why she did it, or what to do really. She just thought it would be a good way to get Drew to leave her alone, and she really wanted to test if she loved Paul or not. She hadn't been planning on doing it, but now that she was, she decided that there was no reason to stop, and kissed him for a few minutes, until he started to pull away from her.

He blinked a few times and stared down at her with huge, shocked eyes. She rubbed the back of her hand across her mouth with a less angry look on her face, and turned to Drew, who was wearing a blank expression.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." He said, in an all but amused tone. "You like someone else already? May, that's like the 100th person!"

"You can talk!" May shouted back at him, so loudly that Paul almost fell back.

"May, I already told you that I love you. Is that not enough for you?" Drew crossed his arms. Now Paul noticed that he was a little bit taller than May, like Paul himself was.

"Do you want to know why I came to Unova? To get away from you. I was having a great time, until you got here. Why did you have to follow me?"

Drew didn't reply. His face didn't show it, but May had almost smashed his heart into pieces. He'd never expected her to behave this way. If he had, he wouldn't have bothered going. Now he was in Unova, and wasn't going to go back to Johto.

"So..." He began, and tried to hide the pain in his voice. "What happened to you liking Ash?"

"I thought I liked him, but I was stupid. Just like I was stupid for liking you. Anyway, he has a girlfriend." May answered as she calmed down.

"Ash has a girlfriend?!" Drew asked, and almost laughed. "Wow, I kind of expected to come here and see you and him together. Instead I see you with this guy."

Paul opened his mouth to protest, but May beat him to it.

"So what if I got with Paul? You couldn't do anything about it." May said, and she backed off to stand beside Paul. He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose not. Well, go on then, ask him."

May furrowed her eyebrows at him, then twirled around to face Paul. She opened her mouth to ask him, but it just hung open, and no words came out. She blushed bright red, and he just stared at her.

After a few seconds, May inhaled and got ready to ask him. She was about to say it, when he turned away from her, stuck his hands in his pockets, and walked away. He felt no shame as he did it, and felt her eyes on the back of him.

Behind him, May's mouth still hung open, and she registered what had just happened to her. Paul had just rejected her before she'd even asked him.

"What...?" May asked, and put her hands on her head. "I should have been expecting that."

"You don't seem too upset."

"Because I'm fucking confused, and you're making it worse. I don't even know how I got here. It's getting dark, I'm tired, and I'm thirsty."

"Here." Drew grabbed his bag and rummaged through it. He pulled out some water from it, and handed it to May.

"...Thanks." May nodded, and took the drink happily. "Well, looks like we're going that way." May lifted her finger to point in the direction Paul was walking.

"I came all this way from Johto, and this is what I've ended up with." Drew muttered to himself as he dragged his feet down the dirt road. "Bloody brilliant."

"Oh shut up, will you?" May rubbed her index fingers against her temple. Her head was starting to hurt from the heat.

"No. May, why were you lying on the sand with no water supplies?"

"I don't know. The last thing I remember was talking to Paul in Castelia city. I thought I already told y-"

"You were possessed." Paul spoke from in front, instantly shutting May up. Drew turned to Paul and glared at the back of his neck.

"Possessed?"

"Yes. You ran out onto the balcony and jumped. Whatever was inside you tried to kill you, and I didn't reach you in time to stop it."

"But... If I jumped off of the balcony, why am I not dead, or at least injured?"

"How should I know?"

"You should know better than me."

Paul didn't respond to her, just kept walking. She grumbled as she walked along and asked him more questions.

"As I asked you earlier, where's Ash? I want him here with me, now." May demanded.

"He went looking for you across Skyarrow Bridge. He can get a ride there though."

"Well text him and tell him now!"

Paul laughed. "Texting isn't my thing."

"Just do it." May demanded again, and fixed her eyes on him. Paul could feel her anger and confusion, and somehow she convinced him to do it. Drew was surprised at the amount of power in May's voice, and how she'd made him do it.

"I almost expected to see you with Ash when I got here," Drew said and looked to her, "Didn't work out, eh?"

"Ash?" May chuckled lightly. "Ash has a girlfriend." She looked at Drew again, and saw his shocked expression. "And he loves her a lot."

"Wow." Drew mumbled and crossed his arms. "What's her name?"

"Dawn. She's from Sinnoh, he met her when he was travelling there. He only confessed to her a few days ago though." Suddenly, May glared at Drew. "Why should I waste my time telling you Ash's life story?"

"Your attitude sure has changed."

"As has yours."

The two then continued to walk in a bitter silence. Paul's lazy eyes flickered over to May secretly as they strolled along the dirt path. He had to act as if he didn't care about the way she'd embraced him earlier, but he did. His emotions weren't clear, and they weren't love. He almost felt sorry for her, because someone that cared for her had come along, and she was wasting her time on him, if it meant that much to her at all.

"Ash is coming to Nimbasa City, he's found some mode of transport. He's eager to see you." Paul spoke, to keep himself from thinking any longer.

"Good." May smiled. Drew watched her with a displeased frown. She hadn't smiled when she'd seen him for the first time in months. Yes, she had hugged him, but it had soon turned into a storming argument, and desperate grasp for her heart.

"Does Ash know... this guy?" Paul pointed to Drew.

"Drew." Drew scoffed. "My name's Drew."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Ash does know Drew. He also knows that Drew really hurt me. He's also going to kill Drew when he sees him." May answered with a smirk. Drew snorted.

"Please. The kid was always a weakling."

May laughed sarcastically and looked pleased about something as she strode down the path. Nimbasa City was coming into view. As they climbed the slope of a hill, the grand city came into view, and they knew it wouldn't take them more than a few hours to get there.

"I have every right to call you an asshole, considering!" May shouted to Drew, who grew madder every time she said something.

"Considering what? Considering that I just travelled for days and confessed my love for you!"

"... Fuck you." May lowered her voice, so she was almost hissing. She got closer to him, and he could see the anger flaring in her eyes.

"Do you remember what you did to me when I told you I loved you?" She asked, getting closer to his face. "Huh, do you?"

Drew couldn't help himself. He placed his hands on May's cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss. His lips pressed against hers, but seconds later, they were apart again.

They stood staring at each other for a moment. They were at the place that they'd planned on meeting Ash at. Paul had gone off to the centre, because he couldn't be bothered to wait.

"I hate you." May said, and tried to hold back her tears. Drew stepped forward, all of his anger gone, and wiped one of her tears away with his hand.

"No you don't."

He was quite happy just holding her, being close to her, and that was the truth now, even if she didn't believe it.

Suddenly, as Drew wiped away her tears, she launched forward, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She let her lips crash against his again, but this time it felt more passionate. Drew slithered his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, so her body was pressed against his. As she kissed him, she pulled away every once in a while to catch her breath, between desperate kisses. The tears were visible streaming down her face.

"Wanna land here?" Dawn shouted across to Ash. He turned to her and nodded.

"Yeah, okay!" He shouted back, and their flying Pokemon began to land.

Ash and Dawn had figured out that the quickest way to get there would be to use their flying Pokemon. So Dawn had ended up riding Togekiss, and Ash had been riding Unfezant.

They finally reached the ground, hopped off, and called their Pokemon back.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Dawn asked finally, and slipped her hand into his.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about May, you know?" He answered, and sighed. Dawn smiled sadly and nodded.

"It's just over this hill, then we'll see her. She can probably hear us talking right now." Dawn reassured him. "Come on."

The two climbed up the steep hill together, until they reached the top. Ash looked around, but he couldn't see May or Paul anywhere, and he started to panic.

"Don't worry Ash, they'll be down there." Dawn said and pointed down to a small deserted park. Ash nodded and followed her down there. He held her hand the whole way, because he knew that she felt comfortable doing it now, and so did he.

They reached the bottom, and Ash pushed open the park gate. He held it open for Dawn, and she slipped through. They walked down the park for a few minutes, but saw no one.

"Dawn, I don't think they're-"

Ash froze. He felt his stomach turn at the sight. Was he imaging this? It couldn't be happening... His heart sank.

Dawn had spotted it too, but she was just confused.

May was standing on the grass, with her body pressed tight against Drew's, kissing him desperately, and crying.

"May..." Ash said, quietly. Suddenly, May pushed away from Drew and turned to Ash, with her hand over her mouth. Drew also turned his head, and his eyes met Ash's.

"... What are you doing here?!" Ash shouted suddenly, and let go of Dawn's hand. Her eyes flicked between Drew and Ash, making sure neither pounced.

"I'm here for May, of course." Drew said, sounding sarcastic in a way. Ash clenched his fist.

"You think you deserve her, after what you did to her?" Ash retaliated, and Drew tensed up.

"Shut up. What would you know?" Drew hissed. Then, he turned to Dawn. "That's a pretty girlfriend you've got there, I'm surprised."

"Fuck you!" Ash shouted, and stepped forward. Dawn put her hand on his arm and pulled him back.

"Don't, Ash." She pleaded, and he calmed down. "Can someone please tell me who this is?"

Everyone looked around at each other, but no one answered her.

"How about we go back to the Pokemon centre, and I tell you there?" Ash suggested, and took a deep breath. He glared once more at Drew before taking Dawn's hand again and leading her out of the park.

As they walked, May trailed far behind the group. She didn't know how she was feeling, as usual, and she felt bad about kissing Drew.

Later than night, May sat with Dawn, preparing to tell her about Drew, and what he'd done. May had told Ash this just after they'd started travelling together, and now she was going to tell Dawn.

"Well... Who is he then?" Dawn asked, with a shyly curious look on her face.

"His name's Drew, and I once liked him a lot. But things happened, it was his fault, he knows that."

"What happened?" Dawn asked another question. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Well..." May started, and took a deep breath. "It all started two months ago..."

* * *

**Soo, tell me in reviews whether you like this new character, and whether you want me to get rid of Paul or not. **

**Also, I just now started an Advanceshipping fic, so if anyone's interested in that, check it out! :D**

**Don't forget to tell me what you think in review or PM.**

**Ninja.**


	9. Flying Insults

**As you can probably guess, this chapter is mostly about May. I promise there'll be more pearlshipping drama soon!**

**So, shippings in this chapter:**

**Pearlshipping, Outcryshipping, Contestshipping ( and whatever the fuck you call BriannaxDrew).**

**Also I'm going to change this to an M. There's a lot of slurs and swears in this chapter too.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

May closed the book she had been glancing at and looked up. The final battle was finally finished, and Drew had won. She knew he would, the other coordinator had no chance.

She stood and cheered like everyone else. Drew looked up to her and winked, and she sat back down stiffly in her seat with a blush.

Once Drew had been awarded his ribbon, he walked off and she went to meet him. She hadn't been competing because she already had five ribbons, but he needed one more. Luckily, they hadn't seen Harley at this contest. He would have made it a lot harder.

"Hey May." He greeted her calmly as she came to meet him. Lots of girls were swooning and giggling over him, but he didn't care. In a way, that made May feel special.

"Congratulations, you were great." May complimented him cheerfully.

"Thanks, May. Wanna head to the Pokemon centre?"

"Yeah," She nodded tiredly.

The two of them had a room in the Pokemon centre, so they headed back there. Once they were in the room, May turned on the television. Drew sat watching as she flicked through the channels, until she came to a battle channel.

"We are live again now after that short break at the Sinnoh League where it's the quarter finals!" A woman announced, and May jumped up.

"You okay, May?"

"Yeah," She said with excitement in her voice. "Ash is there! That's the league he's in!"

Drew said nothing, but his face twisted. He hated how excited May got when anything about Ash came up. He knew she liked him, but just how much?

"In this round, it's Ash versus Paul, and it looks like the battle is nearing its end everyone!"

Drew had always hated Ash because of the amount of time he spent with May. Ash was the reason that Drew had invited May to travel with him in the first place. May always spoke of how Ash was her inspiration, and how many times he saved her life. It made Drew hate him even more.

The screen turned to where Ash and another guy were battling. May's face lit up when she saw him.

The battle was very nearly over. In fact, Ash and Paul's pokemon both looked as if they were going to faint. Ash's was some sort of fire pokemon, that she'd never seen before, and she could tell that Paul's was an electric type. Paul's pokemon had a black wire wrapped around Ash's pokemon's arm.

"Is this the end for Ash's Infernape?" The presenter said sadly. So the pokemon was called Infernape.

Suddenly, Paul's pokemon cried out and let out an enormously powerful thunder attack. The attack completely engulfed Infernape. May gasped a little and prayed that Infernape would stay up.

Paul's pokemon let go of Infernape's arm and it fell to the ground with a thud. May's face twisted and she frowned up at the screen. She turned back to Drew, who's expression hadn't changed.

"Whoa, what is that?" The presented said. "Could that be the ability Blaze?"

May turned back to see Infernape, glowing and shouting. It's eyes were completely red, and she recognised it right away. Her Blaziken had used Blaze a few times. Her smile returned. Infernape's fire burst into the sky.

Infernape was hitting Paul's pokemon again and again, until they met in the sky and Infernape's Flare Blitz completely covered the stadium and knocked out Paul's pokemon. The lady announced that Ash had won.

May felt herself jump up too.

A knock at the door interrupted her rejoicing and she went to answer it. When the door was open, it revealed a familiar face.

"Oh, hey Brianna!" May greeted her, but why was she here? Brianna was her usual shy self, and smiled nervously.

"Hey May... Is Drew there?" She peered around May and noticed Drew coming towards her. Drew had grown a lot, and now he was a little taller than May.

"I'm here, what do you want?" Drew asked her and she blushed as she always did. May frowned.

"Can I speak to you outside?" She asked him, and May faltered. She looked to Drew with her eyebrows furrowed and he looked back with a smile.

"I'll just be a minute, May," He stepped outside and closed the door. May stood staring at it for a moment before perching herself on the edge of her bed. She couldn't hear what she was saying, and she was worried. There could only be one thing Brianna wanted, really.

Just five minutes later, Drew came back in, and May stood. His eyes were wandering and he chewed his lip.

"What did she want?" May asked, but not in a nosy way. Drew looked down at the floor.

"She just wanted to congratulate me on my last contest." Drew said, but May knew he was lying. She wasn't stupid. She raised an eyebrow and he noticed.

"She asked you out, didn't she?" May felt sick now and her heart was racing.

"Yeah..." Drew admitted quietly, and May froze. Drew didn't notice how worked up this made her, he only assumed that she was in love with Ash. He'd always assumed that.

"What did you say?" May tried to act as if she didn't care all that much.

"I said no."

May's head tilted in confusion. "What? Why?"

"Because I don't like her."

A wave of relief washed over May and she sighed. She walked over and sat next to him on his bed. She failed to notice his blush.

"May, I... I want to ask you something."

May blinked a few times. "Yeah?"

Drew refused to look at her as he spoke, as if she were scary or something. "Well, um, do you, you know, love Ash?"

May coughed loudly with surprise as he blurted the question out. "Ash? Me? I... I don't think so," She spat out.

"Good," Drew frowned. May was about to ask what he meant by that when he spoke again. "Cause I want to tell you something."

May stared off at the wall, her face grew hot and crimson. She waited for him to say it, hoping it was what she thought it was.

"Well, May... I..." He hesitated, but she looked at him and smiled. "I really like you, May. Which means I love you."

May's face really was red now and she struggled to come up with words. So instead, she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in. Her lips pressed against his and she'd caught him by surprise. She had her eyes closed, but his were wide open, still surprised.

When they pulled away, Drew struggled to look her in the face.

"I really like you too, Drew," May put her hand over his.

May was sure what she was feeling was love, but she wasn't sure. She thought she knew exactly what it would feel like, but she didn't. Drew was exactly the same. They spent the rest of the day together, not sure whether to class each other as girlfriend or boyfriend.

At the end of the day, they returned to the Pokemon centre, and Drew went out. May didn't ask where he was going. She trusted him now, and where would he go anyway? He was probably just going out to train his Pokemon or get a drink.

After an hour, May herself got thirsty, and decided to take a trip down to the café. Drew still hadn't returned, and she figured it wouldn't hurt to join him, wherever he was.

May snapped out of her daydream, just in time to stop herself from walking into a wall. She turned into the café. It was packed with people, but no one that May knew. At least, that was what she thought, until she saw Drew and Brianna.

She could only wonder what they were doing together. Brianna was pleading with him about something, and he looked distressed.

_Is she upsetting him?_

May started to walk over, but stopped halfway. Drew cupped his hands around Brianna's face and leaned in to kiss her. May stopped in her tracks. What was going on? She didn't understand... He had told her...

Feeling confused, upset, and disoriented, she turned and ran for the door. In the process, Drew spotted her, and jumped up to chase her. When he reached her, it only sparked an argument. The shouting made May feel like shit, but she learned a few things from it, and decided that she hadn't loved Drew. And now, she hated him. She put her trust in him, and he betrayed it the very same day.

Dawn shook her head slowly. "So, he kinda cheated on you? I don't blame you for hating him."

"Yeah," May nodded. "I really hate him. He's ignorant and insensitive, even now, when he's trying to get me back."

"May, have you decided yet?"

May tilted her head. "Decided what?"

"You know, who you like."

May smirked. "You don't really decide that, do you? But yeah, I know now. I haven't told him properly yet, but I will."

"Paul." Dawn sighed with a smile, and May nodded.

"I wonder how those three are doing downstairs."

"We shouldn't have left them. Let's go check."

Ash and Paul sat at a table, looking away from each other, saying nothing. Drew sat nearby, at a different table by himself. At first, Ash found this amusing. But it just meant Drew could stick his fingers up at him without Ash killing him.

May and Dawn decided to wait by the door, since the café was empty, and they wanted to know how they would behave. If anything bad happened, they could step in.

Drew cleared his throat loudly and Paul stood up suddenly, pushing his chair back onto the floor. May was about to step in, but Dawn held her hand out to stop her.

"You fucking grass mop twat, take a hike will you?" He shouted at Drew, and Ash snickered to himself. Drew raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, take a fucking hike yourself, you cold bastard. It's like you feel nothing at all."

Ash was still laughing.

"Fuck off Ketchum, you dense fucker! Why don't you come over here so I can smash your face in?"

Ash was suddenly not laughing, but glaring evilly at Drew. "Oh, yeah?" He stood up too, facing Drew. "I think you should come over here."

Paul scoffed. "No, Ash, you'd make too much mess. Save this for later."

Ash rolled his eyes, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked out of the Pokemon Centre all together. Paul turned back to Drew.

"I think you're the cold bastard." He said, matter-of-factly.

"How come?" Drew stood up now, and May readied herself.

"What do you fucking mean, 'how come'? Ash told me what you did to May, and that was fucked up by itself. Not to mention the stuff you said after!"

May froze at the sound of her name, and the fact that in a way, Paul was defending her.

"She kissed you and you completely blanked her, then walked away! You can't tell me that's not cold. She probably likes you, and you hurt her."

Dawn, who hadn't known about the kiss, stared over at May with wide eyes. May was too busy watching the two of them, her heart pounding in her chest.

Paul opened his mouth to argue, but stopped. For the first time, May saw emotion registering on his face. He looked genuinely... upset.

"I didn't blank her..."

"Yes you did!" Drew stepped closer. "You upset her just as much as me!" He grabbed Paul's shirt, but Paul didn't react. Then, May burst from her hiding place. As Drew turned to her, he felt her pushing him away, so that he almost fell back and had to grab the table.

"Stop it!" She warned him, breathing heavily. "Go the fuck away!"

Drew didn't even argue this time. He noticed how May was standing defensively in front of Paul, who was equally as shocked. He shook his head slowly and walked out of the centre, leaving May angrily clenching her fists.

"Dawn, he might fight with Ash." May said, rubbing her temples. Dawn emerged from the darkness now, and walked outside too, to make sure they didn't kill each other. She left Paul and May standing alone in the café, and for the first time ever, May felt awkward around him.

"How long were you standing there?" He asked finally. His tone made it sound as if he didn't want the answer.

"A while..." May admitted, and turned to face him. "Uh, thanks for sticking up for me..."

"No problem..."

"And sorry for earlier," May sighed. "In the desert."

For a moment, May swore she saw Paul blush. "Don't worry about it."

He stepped forward, until he was standing right in front of her. She caught her breath and tried to stay calm as he stared down at her. In her stomach, butterflies started to flutter, and she felt her face grow hot. Her heart thudded against her chest. She'd never gotten anything this serious with Ash or Drew. She knew that this was what it was like to be in love. She wanted only to lean in and embrace him again.

As they continued to stare at each other, Paul slowly started to lean towards her. She blushed crimson but quickly copied his actions. Leaning in and closing her eyes until their noses were almost touching...

Dawn burst into the door, and they were apart in seconds. She covered her mouth and smiled sheepishly. Ash walked in after her, and raised an eyebrow high with shock. He, being his dense self, hadn't even noticed them around each other.

"S-sorry... Did I interrupt something?" Dawn asked, but Ash was still pulling a disgusted, disapproving face.

"No." May shook her head and lied. Paul stuck his hands into his pockets and walked away, leaving May flustered and trying to control herself. Dawn bit her lip and hurried after him, dragging Ash with her. Once she'd composed herself, May followed too. She was a little disappointed that they'd walked in then. Maybe she would have been able to kiss him properly, without being under the influence of rage...

When they reached the rooms, Ash and Dawn went into theirs to get their stuff ready for leaving. May gulped nervously as she realized that she was going to have to go in there with Paul. Shaking her head, she walked into the room and closed the door behind her. Paul didn't even look up as she wandered over to her bed, grabbing her bag and belongings. She tried not to look at Paul, but it was getting increasingly hard for her, and she couldn't stop thinking about how close they were in the café. She loved him, but in a way, she hated him.

When he had gathered his stuff, he made his way out of the room. Before he left, he glanced once at May, who caught it and blushed nervously. He seemed to grow nervous himself before turning away and leaving, without shutting the door. May lowered her eyes and grabbed her bag before walking out too and shutting the door.

Outside, Ash and Dawn waited. Neither of them knew where Drew was, and neither cared. No one cared. May walked beside Dawn, while Ash and Paul shared banter, mostly neutral, not friendly.

"You've done something special to Paul, May." Dawn said out of the blue as they walked out of the Pokemon centre. May blushed and stuttered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know," Dawn looked over at him. "He's always been nasty and selfish and never did anything for anyone. Earlier he stuck up for you and he gets nervous around you. I think you might be changing him, May!"

"I don't know about that," May said. "He's so stubborn."

"Play hard to get then." Dawn shrugged. "Might be stereotypical, but I think because of his characteristics, he might like that."

May pondered the thought for a moment, and smirked. She didn't know whether she'd be any good at it or not, but she could always try...

"Where are we going?" Dawn called to Ash, who turned back to her with a loving smile. The kind of smile May missed.

"I think we'll go to the Nimbasa gym. Me and Paul will get our badges, then we can go to Driftveil city, where there'll be a contest."

"Thank god, a contest!" Dawn threw her arms up. "Maybe something will go right this time."

They walked in silence down the streets until they reached the Nimbasa city gym, which was aglow with beautiful neon lights. Dawn guessed it was an electric type gym as they entered and Ash made his way over to a machine that Dawn knew was used to transfer pokemon. Nobody bothered asking Ash what he was doing, since they could easily guess. May shifted her weight awkwardly beside Paul, but he ignored her, like he had been since they'd been together in the café.

When Ash returned, May, Dawn and Paul went off into the stands to watch. Paul would challenge her next, but not until her pokemon had been healed.

Ash was already starting his battle with the gym leader, Elesa. She was surely beautiful, with stunning black hair and her own fashion trend that Dawn thought worked really well. She was stunning, and Paul was staring.

May suddenly leaned closer to him. Dawn was too engrossed in the battle to notice, but Paul's gaze turned to May, instead of Elesa. He seemed nervous for a moment, and shuffled away slightly. So, what Dawn was saying was true, she did make him nervous. What kind of nervous it was, only he could tell.

"Ash is a pretty good battler, isn't he?" May asked, trying to make her voice sound as flirty as possible. Paul stared down at her and blinked a few times.

"I suppose so." He answered simply, and shifted his weight. May pressed closer still, so that their hips were touching, and Paul's face twisted.

"So, uh, May..." He started, and her face lit up. She looked away to hide it. After all, she was playing hard to get, right? "Do you, uh... Wanna go somewhere later?"

_Play hard to get. _Dawn's voice repeated in her head, and she glanced at the bluenette for a moment before facing Paul again, her face almost blank.

"Maybe." She shrugged, and started to fiddle with her nails. Paul raised an eyebrow and looked genuinely surprised by her reaction. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything, so closed it again and resumed what he was doing- watching Elesa. May snorted and moved away, but didn't interact with either of them. Instead she watched Ash's battle. Paul had asked her out, and she was secretly excited, but she couldn't show that. She knew that he kept glancing over at her, so she tried to look her best, and didn't look at him once. Hopefully, this would work, and she'd wait for him to make the first move. If he ever did.

Eventually, Ash won the battle. It was obvious that he was going to win, even right at the beginning. His pokemon were much stronger and higher levels. Paul brushed past May as he left, and she shuddered. Dawn smirked.

Dawn embraced Ash and May hugged him once he came out, and he thanked them for congratulating him. Paul kept his hands stuck in his pockets and out of the way.

"Your turn, Paul."

Paul turned lazily to Ash. "No, I don't think she'll be able to battle until tomorrow now."

Dawn moaned and May sighed, but Paul ignored them. Ash nodded understandingly and began to walk out of the gym. May and Dawn followed, nattering about how they wanted to hurry up and get to the next town already.

But they had to go back to the Pokemon Centre, and May would have to stay in a room with Paul again. She rolled her eyes as they walked into the café. She immediately broke away from the group, gliding across the room to the counter and ordering a drink. Dawn and Ash went up to their room to put their stuff away again, since they'd be spending another night there. Paul watched May for a while, until she was getting served. He was about to go back up to his room, when Drew walked in.

Drew made a beeline for May, and Paul tensed up. He watched as May pulled a disgusted look at Drew and shooed him away.

"I don't get it May," He said, throwing his arms up. "Can't we even be friends?"

"No." May shook her head. "We can't."

"Why not?"

May glared at him, her eyes burning with annoyance. "Because I hate you, that's why. Get out of my way."

"You know what, May?" Drew started, and May turned back to him. "You're just a slut."

Paul raised an eyebrow, and May didn't move. She blinked a few times, as if she didn't understand.

"You jump from boy to boy and expect to get something out of them, then when you don't, you move on to another. You've liked every boy you've been close to. You're a slut."

May hadn't cried in a long time, but she knew what it felt like when it was building up, and she felt that now. She dropped her drink on the ground, letting the liquid explode and splatter everywhere. She turned and ran out of the café, and up to her room. Whether she was crying or not, Paul couldn't tell.

Paul turned on Drew. "You're a fucking dick, you know that?"

He turned and ran too, until he reached their room, and he pushed the door open. May was sitting on her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest. She wasn't crying, but her eyes were very distant. He walked over to her and stood beside her bed.

"Uh... You okay, May?"

May kept staring at the wall and shook her head. "People think I'm a slut..."

"What? Of course you're not, May." Paul said without thinking. He surprised himself by helping her and cheering her up. She looked up at him and burst into tears.

"But people think I am, right? I don't do that at all..."

"No." Paul sat on the edge of her bed and shook his head. May had never heard his voice so gentle. "Drew is an idiot, he shouldn't of said that. Trust me, if he thinks that, he's the only one."

May sniffed and wiper her eyes in an almost childish way. "You really think so?"

"Yeah." Paul nodded. "I don't think that. Dawn doesn't think that, and Ash doesn't either."

May cracked a smile and lowered her knees. She was happier again, all thanks to Paul.

"Thanks, Paul." She smiled lovingly over at him. "You're the best."

"Just ignore Drew." Paul warned her, shaking his head. "He's out to get you, just ignore anything he does."

It was clear that Paul was concerned about May, but she thought she heard a hint of jealousy in his voice too. May hoped it was there. If he was feeling jealous, that meant she was doing something right. Though, May would rather die than be with Drew again.

Smiling again, she shuffled forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind. He blushed lightly, and hated himself for it. She held him close to her for a few more moments before pulling away and lying back. After a while, Paul touched her arm lightly before leaving and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**And so they're still not together. And when Paul said Drew was out to get her, he really meant it! Drew's going to make her life hell!**

**See you in the next chapter when we'll see someone doing something they shouldn't under the influence of something they shouldn't of had.**

**Ninja.**


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